The Least Likely Prince Charming
by idontknowanything
Summary: After a string of breakups, Ginny has decided to officially give up on boys for the rest of her years at Hogwart's. Fate, however, has a different plan, and keeps throwing the least likely candidate for Ginny's prince charming in her path. Completed 605
1. The Vow of the Brokenhearted

Disclaimer: I own nothing that anyone other than me would want. Therefore, that includes these characters, who belong to the very rich and talented J.K. Rowling.  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 1 - The Vow of the Brokenhearted  
  
Ever since she was little, Ginny Weasley has always loved fairytales. There was just something about those stories, with the handsome and brave hero coming to rescue the damsel in distress, that had always appealed to Ginny. Her favorite story of all was about witch named Cinderella. In the story, Cinderella was a good witch whose father married an dark witch with two daughters. When her father died, the evil stepmother took Cinderella's wand and locked it away in a charmed box, and forced Cinderella to cook and clean, and wait on her stepsisters and her stepmother constantly. Ginny related to Cinderella in a way, not because her family was mean or treated her badly, but because she was the youngest of seven children, and the only girl, in a family which had to scrape by to make ends meet. So Ginny knew what it was to not be able to do or have what your friends did, and she understood how Cinderella must have felt to be left out all the time.  
  
So, like the story, Ginny waited for her Prince Charming to come along. Someone who was brave and honest, someone who wouldn't care about how little money her family had, or how ragged her hand-me-down robes were, or how Ginny couldn't buy a lot of things at Hogsmeade like the other students did, because she didn't have enough money. When she was younger, Ginny had thought she had found her fairytale prince, (who wouldn't think HARRY POTTER was the embodiment of everything a perfect fairytale prince would be), except for the fact that Harry didn't even know she was a girl. So Ginny gave up on her fairytale dreams, and began her string of boyfriends.  
  
Ginny was in her sixth year now, and she had as many boyfriends as years, since her third year at Hogwart's. In her third year, she had started dating Michael Corner, whom she had broke up in her fourth year for being a complete git. He threw a huge temper tantrum, all because she caught the snitch and his house had lost. So, Ginny had said, bye-bye to Michael, Michael had turned around and comforted Cho, the Ravenclaw seeker in her defeat, and Ginny had moved on to Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor. Her relationship with Dean lasted over the summer and into the beginning of her fourth year, and then they broke up because he cheated on her with Lavender. Ginny had walked in on a snogging session they were having in the broom closet beside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Dean still winced whenever he saw Ginny with her wand visible, as a bat bogey hex is never completely forgotten. Ginny then moved on to start dating Colin That relationship lasted a little bit longer than her others, she dated him until the summer between her fourth and fifth years. There break-up was mutual, as they both felt they were more like friends than boyfriend- girlfriend. Ginny's fifth year was spent with Seamus, and she really felt like he was her prince charming. He was always so sweet to her, and was always doing nice things for her, like sending her little "thinking of you" notes by owl post. But, as with all of Ginny's relationships with the opposite sex that were not brotherly relationships the relationship had ended. Ginny was still confused and heartbroken by the break-up, which had occurred at the end of the last year, before getting on the Hogwart's Express. Seamus had given her a nice speech, filled with phrases like "I just don't feel THAT way about you" and "I always want to be your friend."  
  
"So, Ginny, do you have everything packed for school this year?" Hermione asked her, startling Ginny out of her reminiscences, as she looked up from the book she was reading. The girls were in the room they shared in the Order's headquarters. Hermione had come to stay this summer, due to it being unsafe to be a muggle born wizard in London right now. Hermione has been one of Ginny's best friends for years, and has followed along with all of Ginny's boyfriends (and unrequited crush in her first, second, and third years). Hermione had agreed with her reasoning when she broke up with Michael, comforted her when she caught Dean and Lavender snogging in that broom closet, listened to her vent about Colin being such a good friend but not a good boyfriend, and hugged her and comforted her when she cried so many times about Seamus.  
  
"No, I haven't really felt like thinking about going back yet." Ginny said, looking back down at her photo album. The picture she was looking at showed a scared Ginny cowering at the far edge of the picture looking at the spot were her picture mate used to be, but was now only a torn edge. Ginny supposed that her picture image was afraid she would light it on fire like she did the one of Seamus.....  
  
"Well, you should think about packing Gin. We don't have much time. I've already gotten everything but a few changes of clothes and all my books packed. I need to read those you know. NEWTS for me this year. How did you do on your OWL's, anyway?" Hermione asked Ginny.  
  
Ginny put the picture back in the album and looked at Hermione. "I'm surprise Mum didn't tell you, yet. I guess she just hasn't had time to go telling everyone yet, with all the Order stuff going on right now. Anyway, I got a lot of Exceeds Expectations and Outstandings and only one bad mark in Divination. That was probably because I told the examiner I saw a fire in the crystal ball and predicted that there would be a fire somewhere at Hogwart's that day.... turned out it was just the reflection of my hair I saw." Ginny joked, as she put the album back in the box underneath her bed.  
  
"I told you not to take Divination Ginny, but you had to listen to Ron and Harry when they said all you had to do was predict your own death in numerous freak and improbable accidents and it would be an easy A." Hermione lectured, with a smile on her face.  
  
"Yeah, well I guess I won't have to listen to the dimwit anymore, now though. Divination is done for me now, thankfully. Well I guess I should start thinking about packing now, huh..." Ginny stated, looking around at all the stuff she had yet to even start packing.  
  
"Need help, Ginny? I'm only reading some stuff for advanced potions right now and it's boring me to sleep. Helping you pack would wake me up a little bit." Hermione offered, closing the thick book she was looking at and rubbing her tired eyes.  
  
"Sure, Hermione, I could use the help. It's not everyday that a lowly prefect gets to order the Head Girl around." Ginny joked, with a little laugh. Hermione had just received the letter informing her of her Head Girl status yesterday, and was still quite excited about it. Ron felt left out, however, because Harry was the Head Boy and Hermione was the Head Girl, and he was just a prefect, but he would get over it. Ginny had been a prefect since her fifth year, which overjoyed her mother, but disappointed Fred and George greatly, as they thought she was there best protege on the not so strait and narrow path.  
  
The girls started pulling things from Ginny's closet and drawers, with Hermione occasionally asking Ginny if she wanted to take this or that. All of Ginny's clothes were packed and it was just the little things left when Hermione pulled out the album that Ginny had been looking at before. "Do you want to pack this?" she asked, as she opened it up. Hermione gasped as she saw the scared looking Ginny cowering in the corner of all the ripped pictures in the album, and asked "What is this, anyway?"  
  
"You are looking at the romantic history of a relationship loser." Ginny said, and grabbed the album off of Hermione and hugged it to her chest. Hermione looked at Ginny with pity in her eyes. Hermione knew how hard Ginny was taking her break-up with Seamus, and this album of ripped photographs showed Hermione how much all of Ginny's break-ups had affected her.  
  
"Ginny, do you want to talk about it? I know you really like Seamus, and took the break-up rather hard, but you seemed to be fine this summer." Hermione said, pulling Ginny to sit next to her on the bed. Ginny looked at Hermione, and seemed to be struggling with herself about whether or not she was ready to talk about what has been troubling her all summer. Ginny, being the practical girl she is, finally decided to herself that she did need to talk to someone about what was bothering her.  
  
Ginny took a deep breath and looked at Hermione and started to talk. "Okay, Hermione, let me ask you, where did I go wrong? I would really love to know what I am doing wrong. Is it my hair, is it my personality, is it just me? Why can't keep a boyfriend for more than a year? What is wrong with me? I don't know what I am doing wrong!!" Ginny ended her tirade, and put her head on Hermione's shoulder.  
  
Hermione was glad that Ginny had finally opened up about how much all of her break-ups have affected her, but in truth, Hermione didn't know what to say to her. Any question that came from a book, Hermione could answer, but when it came to relationships, she was just as clueless as Ginny. Hermione said the only thing that popped into her head, and hoped that it was the right thing. "Ginny, you aren't doing anything wrong. It just wasn't meant to be." Hermione hated using cliches, but she could really think of nothing else to say.  
  
"Well, then, what is meant to be?" Ginny countered, not asking Hermione this, but asking the world in general. "Why did Dean snog Lavender? Was that meant to be? And while we are at it, was Michael being such a stupid git about a Quidditch match meant to be?" And then Ginny asked the question that Hermione knew was the root of what was really troubling her, "Why wasn't I enough for Seamus? " as she flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.  
  
Hermione still didn't know what to say to Ginny. She knew that Ginny was heartbroken by Seamus, but Hermione had never had the boy she cared deeply about break up with her, so she didn't know what to say. Heck, Hermione wasn't one to be giving out love advice. Hermione was still in a pseudo friendship, I love you but can't tell you, kind of thing with Ron. So Hermione did some quick thinking and sorted through her cliches again, and then said to Ginny, "You may think he was the one for you now, but someday, you'll meet your prince charming, and you'll be glad that things didn't work out with Seamus."  
  
Ginny didn't say anything, and she just looked at the ceiling. She just stared for a while, sorting out all the thoughts in her head. It was then that Ginny made her decision. She sat up suddenly on the bed, and looked at Hermione. Hermione saw the stubborn look in her eyes, and knew that Ginny was through acting defeated. Hermione was hopeful that Ginny was prepared to get over Seamus and move on, until Ginny opened her mouth and spoke.  
  
"Hermione, by Merlin's oath, I officially make this vow, to last at least until I complete my career at Hogwart's: I officially give up on boys! I plan to spend the rest of my Hogwart's days, single and free of romantic entanglements. I officially give up on boys!!!." Ginny vowed.  
  
Hermione looked at Ginny and really hoped she wasn't serious. But, something about that Weasley look in her eye - the one that Ron gets right before he turns into the most stubborn git in creation - made Hermione think that Ginny was serious. Hermione felt a pang of pity for any of the nameless and faceless boys who will ask Ginny out this year. She sighed as she thought of poor Madame Pomfrey and the rash of bat bogey hexes she will have to deal with this year.  
  
If Ginny knew that fate was listening to her vow, she might have decided not to follow through with it. Because every witch and wizard knows that fate has a strange sense of humor. And, upon hearing Ginny make her vow, fate decided it was time to make things interesting for the red-headed witch. It was time for Ginny Weasley to meet her fate, whether she wants to or not. 


	2. The Bat Bogey Epidemic

Disclaimer: If I owned any original characters, do you really think I would be wasting my time writing fanfiction? Seriously, if I owned these characters, my name would be J.K. Rowling and I would be working on the sixth book right now........ But, unfortunately for my checkbook, I'm not J.K. Rowling and I don't really own anything, not even my checkbook.  
  
Summary: After a string of boyfriends, 6th year student Ginny Weasley officially gives up on finding her prince charming and makes a vow to remain single for the rest of her days at Hogwart's. Fate, however, has a strange sense of humor, and keeps throwing the least likely candidate for Ginny's prince in her path. Can a frog really turn out to be a prince in disguise? And will Ginny trust herself to take a chance on this least likely prince?  
  
Author's note: I'll keep this note "short. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it.  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 2 - The Bat Bogey Epidemic  
  
Hermione was fed up. It was the second week of school, and she was completely overwhelmed with her Head Girl responsibilities in addition to studying for NEWTs at the end of the year. And her friend Ginny wasn't helping a bit. By the end of the first week, Ginny had hexed five boys. This week she had already hexed two, and it was only Monday.... Unfortunately, as head girl, Hermione has to deal with the aftermath of an incident such as that. Luckily for Ginny, the boys weren't talking about who hexed them, (the best excuse being "I was trying to find my wand under my bed and I accidently hexed myself") but Hermione knew it was her. Ginny was the only one in Hogwart's who could do the Bat Bogey hex so well. Madame Pomfrey has lately been seen shaking her head about the Bat Bogey Epidemic hitting Hogwart's, and has been heard wondering aloud to an amused Dumbledore as to why most of the accidental hexes occurring lately are turning into a full fledged bat bogey hex.  
  
The Bat Bogey Epidemic officially began on the Hogwart's Express somewhere between London and the secret location of Hogwart's. The first victim of this hex was a Hufflepuff 6th year named Jason Fletcher. He was found in a compartment of the train, sitting on the bench holding his head in his hands, with his face and entire body covered in fluttering bat like wings things. The poor boy had to sit the entire rest of the trip to Hogwart's and the trip to the medical ward with bat bogeys all over him. When asked what had happened by Hermione, Harry, and a couple of the teachers, Jason would only say that he will never do that again, and refused to talk about what had happened.  
  
The next couple of boys to "accidently" become bat bogey hexed were a random assortment of Hogwart's sixth years. They all ended up visiting Madame Pomfrey in a similar state to Jason. When asked who or how they had become hexed, all of the boys gave random excuses about freak circumstances involving their wands. Hermione had thought that those would be the end of it, as the boys had to be figuring out who was doing it, even if the victims were not telling, and any smart person would just leave the girl alone.  
  
Hermione had always had difficulty understanding people, especially boys, but if she had asked Ron or Harry, they could have told her that the bat bogey epidemic would not end anytime soon. Because Ron or Harry are boys, and they know what there fellow boys are like. They could have told her that the boys would not stop chasing Ginny now, because she had become a CHALLENGE, and there is nothing that teenage boys like better than that. So, the different boys kept ending up visiting Madame Pomfrey for the counter-curse, Hermione was spending all her time writing up incident reports for the rash of "accidental" bat bogey hexes, and Ginny, well, she just kept practicing her hex.  
  
Ginny was, at the moment, dealing with yet another boy. This boy was Ryan, a 7th year Ravenclaw, who was asking her to go to Hogsmeade with him this weekend. Boys.... why couldn't they figure it out when she had refused the last seven boys who asked her out that she just wasn't interested in dating anymore. Ginny just shook her head at Ryan, and told him "I'm sorry but I have other plans with my friends for this trip." It was the same excuse she had been using, but somehow she knew it wouldn't work this time any more than the last seven times. She knew for certain when he opened his mouth again.  
  
"Come on Ginny, you don't want to be the only one there without a date, do you?" Ryan stated, and then the flash of light from Ginny's wand hit him. Ginny turned and walked away, not even bothering to look to see the bat bogeys covering his body. She was angry, because boys were such stupid gits who couldn't take a hint, that boys never listen when a girl talks, that boys think that the only thing girls want to do is to date them. That boys just kept breaking up with her . . . As she walked away from the room, Ginny was still so angry that she didn't notice the snickering boy who had observed the whole scene and was currently watching her walk away.  
  
The snickering boy was Malfoy, who was really quite amused by the scene he had just witnessed. To think that he would have missed it if he hadn't came back for his Potion's book that he had forgotten in that classroom.... If he could feel pity, he would feel it for that Ravenclaw boy. After all, having experienced the red head's special curse, he knew exactly how the boy felt. But, what really amused Draco was that he had finally discovered the cause of the hexing epidemic. He had thought it was one of his house mates, as all the victims were Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors, but now he knew it was the Weasel's little sister. Now, he could have a little fun getting points taken from Gryffindor and possibly getting the girl a couple detentions. Nothing amused Malfoy more than getting someone from another house in trouble, especially one of Potter's friends. So, Malfoy headed off to find Snape, with a smirk on his handsome face.  
  
Malfoy wouldn't have been smirking if he knew what would happen next. But fate had her plans, and she had a huge smirk on HER face........  
  
COMING UP: Will Hermione ever stop studying for her NEWTs? Will Ginny stop hexing innocent boys for asking her out? Will Malfoy ever stop smirking and actually smile for once? Will Malfoy get Ginny in trouble, or will fate have something different planned for our least likely couple? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Chapter 3 - Charming? I Think Not. 


	3. Charming? I Think Not!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the computer I am writing this on (gotta love payment plans). Therefore, if you sue me, you will have to accept payment in very low monthly installments (say $0.50 a month). I do not own any of the main characters. All characters, the school in which they attend, and the concept of a school of Wizardry belong to J.K. Rowling, who probably doesn't have to have payment plans for anything anymore.....  
  
Author's Note: Thank you to all who reviewed. Please don't expect the chapters to always come this soon. The plot bunnies are actually visiting when I have some spare time (and while I am procrastinating)..... Those darn plot bunnies usually visit when I'm busy (after having procrastinated something for a few days), but I discovered that if you offer those bunnies a beer (or 2 or 3), they'll hang around for a little while...  
  
Summary: Ginny Weasley has given up on her search for her prince charming. Fate has her own evil plans.... We enter this chapter with a studying Hermione, a tattle-telling Draco, a very scary Ginny, and a recent epidemic of freakishly "accidental" Bat Bogey Hexes striking the 6th and 7th year boys......  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 3: Charming? I Think Not.  
  
Draco was smirking. This was not an uncommon occurrence in Hogwart's - most of the student were used to seeing the Malfoy boy walking down the hallway with a smirk on his handsome face. Every student at Hogwart's knew that they were safe when he was smirking, because it meant that the Slytherin Prefect already had someone else in mind to get in trouble with Snape. It was when he wasn't smirking that the students knew they had to be concerned, because the absence of a smirk meant that Malfoy was on the prowl for someone to get in trouble.  
  
Draco was searching for Snape. He couldn't wait to see how pleased Snape would be when he reported that Weasley girl for hexing another student. Snape would take enough points from Gryffindor to make up for all of those points that Mudblood Granger got those Gryffindor's in Advanced Arithmancy. That would make Draco very happy, or at least as happy as Draco has ever felt. If he could only find Snape....  
  
While Draco was searching for Snape, Ginny was continuing her reign of terror over the Hogwart's boys. She walked down the hallway of the school, glaring at any and every boy who even looked in her direction. And the boys kept looking. Word had gotten around that the pretty red head was single and dateless for the Hogsmeade weekend coming up, and a lot of the single boys wanted to ask her to go. The boys haven't quite figured out why she was hexing all those other boys, because none of the victims would say anything about what or why it had happened. So, all the boys at Hogwart's assumed that the Bat Bogey victims had said something to offend the youngest Weasley, as she was known to be one of the nicest girls in the school, and would never hex anyone without a good reason. So, bets were made among some of the boys about who would be Ginny's next boyfriend, and a lot of the boys tried to get up enough nerve to ask her to Hogsmeade. The boys didn't notice her glaring at each and every one of them if they even looked at her....  
  
Ginny was headed to the library, where she was supposed to meet Hermione to help her study for her NEWTs. Ginny knew that Hermione was being a little bit obsessive about the NEWTs, but she didn't have the heart to refuse when she had begged Ginny to come during her free period today and quiz her on some possible NEWT questions. If only the boys in the hallway would stop looking at her as she made her way to the library. The idiots weren't even noticing the glare she gave each and every one of them whenever they looked in her direction.  
  
If they were her brothers, they would have noticed that glare, because the Weasley boys had learned long ago that Ginny gave the "death glare" immediately before she would take out her wrath on some helpless but completely deserving brother. Like the time the twins tested one of their joke products on her.... But the average boy at Hogwart's hadn't yet learned about Ginny's evil glare, and were completely unable to believe that the girl voted "Nicest Girl" in for the Hogwart's yearbook the last year would be capable of being anything but, well, nice.  
  
Ginny wasn't feeling very nice at the moment. In fact, at the moment, Ginny was in fact feeling anything but nice. She had been dealing with boys asking her out for the last two weeks, and she was tired of having to hex each and every one of them. And to top it off, Dean and Lavender were finally going together as an official couple (after spending the last 2 years in random snogging sessions all around Hogwart's and firmly denying any relationship) and were acting so lovey-dovey that it was sickening; Colin had started dating a Ravenclaw 5th year named Melissa, whom Ginny had never gotten along with; and Ron, Harry, and Hermione were acting very secretive about something, and were constantly kicking her out of rooms to discuss it. The only thing that could make the beginning of Ginny's sixth year worse would be if Seamus started dating someone else. As it was, Seamus was still just as single as Ginny was.  
  
Ginny was turning the corner in the hallway past McGonigal's room when she saw him. Seamus was coming down the opposite end of the hallway, a tentative smile on his face as he saw Ginny. Ginny wasn't quite ready to face Seamus just yet. She had so far managed to avoid him in the house and around school, but she knew she would have to talk to him soon - but she really didn't think she was ready to talk to him like they were just friend, yet. So, Ginny did the only thing she could in a situation like this, she ducked into McGonigal's room.  
  
Malfoy was waiting for his Advanced Transfiguration class to start. After spending most of the day searching for Snape to get that Weasley girl in trouble, he had discovered that Snape was out of school today on "personal business". So, with nothing better to do, and being unable to find Crabbe and Goyle to keep him entertained until class started, Malfoy had sat himself down in his spot in the Transfiguration classroom and began to work on an assignment he had forgotten to do for Astronomy tonight. When he heard someone coming into classroom, he didn't even look up. He thought it was probably just someone else coming in early. But then he heard a girl's voice mumbling. What she was mumbling, Draco couldn't exactly tell, but he was sure it contained quite a few words that he could get her in trouble for saying. So, Draco looked up, and saw a red haired girl standing there, glaring at him and mumbling.  
  
Since he didn't see a wand in her hand, and since he was bored, Malfoy decided he would torture the girl. He usually waited until Crabbe and Goyle were around before he started bullying someone, but it was just the little sister of Potter's sidekick, and she didn't have her wand out, so Malfoy felt lucky.  
  
"So, Weasley, are you tired of following around after Potter and his gang? Or are you in here looking shiny things like a niffler to pay for food to feed your 20 brothers?" Malfoy said. This wasn't one of Malfoy's best insults, but to tell the truth, he just hasn't been in the mood to torment lately. Which has made his life even more boring.....  
  
"Oh, shut up Malfoy. I really don't have the energy to deal with your stupid insults today" Ginny said, glaring at Malfoy as she turned around and peeked into the hallway. Seamus was standing in the hallway talking to Neville, so Ginny still couldn't leave the room. Well, if I have to be stuck in a room with Malfoy, I might as well sit down, Ginny thought, as she started to walk over to sit down in the chair as far from Malfoy as she could get.  
  
Malfoy just looked at the girl. He couldn't believe she was going to sit down and stay in the room, with him, alone. Wasn't she afraid he would hex her or something, on principle? But then Malfoy thought of Ryan in the medical ward covered with Bat Bogey's, and thought about how the girl had hexed him with that same hex back in his 5th year, and Malfoy knew that this girl wasn't scared of him at all. And this intrigued Malfoy. Most of the students at Hogwart's, except for Harry and his friends, were slightly scared of Malfoy. That aspect of fear made tormenting his fellow students a lot less fun. But now he found someone else whom he could torment, who wouldn't be scared of him. And that excited Malfoy, because he liked the idea of a worthy opponent.  
  
Malfoy walked over and stood in front of the pretty red head, who had just sat down. She looked up at him, and grimaced. "What do you want, Malfoy? I'm warning you, I don't have a lot of patience today." Ginny said, as she looked at the blonde haired boy.  
  
"Well, Weasley, I was just wondering if you were lost or something." Malfoy said sarcastically as he looked at Ginny. "Because, why would a muggle- lover like you want to be in a classroom alone with me?" Malfoy asked, with a smirk.  
  
Ginny then decided that anything was better than deliberately baiting Malfoy, when she was alone in a classroom with him, so she decided to leave. She got up and started to walk around Malfoy, when it happened. She tripped over a book bag someone had left on the floor. Ginny tried to catch herself, but it was too late. She fell, knocking Malfoy down with her. And it all happened so quickly, neither one of them had anytime to stop the fall. Ginny ended up landing on top of Draco, with her lips so close to his that she could feel his breath. Silver met brown for a fraction of a second, then Ginny looked away and started to get up. Malfoy smirked at her as he watched her get up.  
  
"So who do you think I am, Weasley? Your Prince Charming or something?" Malfoy said, with his trademark smirk getting even wider.  
  
Ginny glared at the boy, who was also pulling himself up off the floor. Then she glared at him, and said, in a cool tone of voice, "You!!! - CHARMING? I think not......" as she pushed Malfoy back down onto the floor and stalked away.  
  
Malfoy sat on the floor for a moment, amazed at the red heads guts, before he decided he was going to go after her and get his revenge. Nobody pushes him and insults him and gets away with it, he thought. He knew a couple of good hexes that would teach that muggle-loving, red headed, poor as a mouse, Potter-loving, shrew a lesson or two. As Malfoy headed towards the door, he heard a commotion in the hallway. He never expected to see what he saw, as he stood in the doorway and took in the scene. The 7th years in Advanced Transfiguration were all in the hallway, staring at the boy on the floor and backing away from the angry looking redhead with a wand in her hand who was parting the crowd as she stalked away. The boy was on the floor, with bat bogeys coving his face and body. And a Hufflepuff girl named Hannah was heard to say, in a shocked tone of voice, "All Justin said to her was hi." , as she stood staring at the hexed boy.  
  
Draco watched all that happened, and then something amazing happened. Something not even Draco expected. Draco smiled, and he laughed. Not a smirk and a snicker, as was the usual Malfoy response. The crowd in the hallway noticed him, and looked at him in shock. Draco Malfoy was smiling and laughing! It had never happened before in all the years he has been at Hogwart's. But Draco just kept smiling and laughing quietly as he walked into the classroom to finish his homework.  
  
Fate watched and laughed along with the boy. She couldn't have picked a better fate for him, although they'll both fight her all the way.... But fate knows she will always win in the end......  
  
COMING UP: Will Harry and Ron finally make an actual appearance in this story? Will Hermione continue to obsess about her NEWTs? Who will be the final victim of the Bat Bogey Epidemic? And Malfoy gets a hug.... Find out these things and more in Chapter 4, entitled "Is Fate Trying to Kill Me?", coming soon..... 


	4. Is Fate Trying to Kill Me?

Disclaimer: 1. What I own: Nothing  
2. What J.K. Rowling owns: The Harry Potter books, and  
all characters within those books, which I only borrowed for  
use in this story.  
3. What you will get if you sue me: The pennies hidden  
in the seats of my car and a few empty aluminum cans, maybe,  
unless I need to sell them for gas money.......  
  
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews. I welcome all reviews, and I don't mind constructive criticism. I promise to review back for everyone who has reviewed my story (if you have one published here) as soon as possible. I haven't been reading much fan fiction lately though, because this story has chained me to the computer and is forcing me to write, and write, and write.... Can't ...type..... anymore........, please.... story.... please.... just let me go to sleep....  
  
And on to the story...  
  
Summary: Ginny Weasley has given up on dating, but fate has an evil plan. Last time, in "The Least Likely Prince Charming", we ended with a ticked off Ginny, a bunch of scared 7th years, and a SMILING Draco.... What more could happen? Lots and lots more.....  
  
Chapter 4 - Is Fate Trying to Kill Me?  
  
Hogwart's had become a different place since "THAT" day. The day that would forever be remembered by the students. The day that would be simultaneously known in Hogwart's history as "The day Ginny Weasley went nuts" and "The day Draco Malfoy smiled". Both occurrences were so rare and unexpected, that no one would have ever believed they would happen in the same day. Students could still be seen in corners, whispering about "THAT" day.  
  
Following that day, the Bat Bogey Epidemic had appeared to have died down. The boys at Hogwarts had learned to leave Ginny alone. Some of the younger boys were even seen hiding in strange places, trying to avoid the red headed girl. Dennis Creevy had even been known to duck into any nearby door whenever he saw Ginny in the hallways and had caused quite a commotion when he unknowingly ducked into the girl's bathroom in an attempt to avoid Ginny. It was also rumored that Shane McFee, a 6th year Hufflepuff who shares a couple of classes with Ginny, had requested a transfer into different classes, to avoid the Weasley girl.  
  
Something else happened at Hogwarts following "THAT" day, and it was very strange indeed. Some of the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor girls started looking at Draco Malfoy. This hadn't happened very much before, because despite how handsome the Slytherin boy was, he was always seen with a mocking smirk or a scowl on his face, which scared most of the girl's away. Now, some of the girls were seen making shy glances at Draco, with thoughtful looks in their admiring eyes.... Draco, however, was oblivious to the girl's glances as he walked down the hallway. Draco was, in fact, bored, and was on the prowl for some first year to bully around. With Snape still being absent from Hogwart's on "personal business", Draco had found his usual boredom relieving activity of getting points deducted from that git Potter and his sidekicks a lot tougher. Although, he could probably still get that Weasley girl in trouble...  
  
Malfoy was quite amazed that he hadn't reported the Weasley girl for all the hexing he had observed her doing. With all the witnesses in Advanced Transfiguration, he was sure someone would have collaborated his story if he went to McGonigal or Hooch or even that senile old muggle-lover Dumbledore. But, for some reason unknown even to Malfoy himself, he hadn't done anything in the week since the incident, and he had really no desire to do so now.  
  
Ginny Weasley had calmed down considerably since the day she had hexed Justin. She knew that Justin definitely didn't deserve to be hexed, and had often tried to apologize in the last week, but for some reason, he always seemed to turn around and walk quickly in the opposite direction every time he saw her coming..... The more Ginny thought about it, she realized that Justin wasn't the only boy that did that. Which was fine with Ginny. She had a couple of select friends who were boys that she hung around and talked to, like Harry, Ron, and Neville, but that was really all she needed. She had, after all, vowed to never date any more boys while she was a Hogwart's.  
  
Ginny was currently gathering her things for the Quidditch game that was coming up against Slytherin this afternoon. Ginny was on the team as a Chaser this year. Harry was still the Seeker for the team and Ron had remained Keeper for the team, as well as taking on responsibility as team captain this year. Ron was actually a rather good team captain, even though he had somehow gained Hermione's drive for perfection, when it came to Quidditch. That was why Ginny was preparing her robes and things so early, as Ron had demanded the team come to the field an hour early to discuss strategy for the game.  
  
As Ginny headed off to the Quidditch field, she saw Ron and Hermione in the hallway fighting. She really didn't feel like getting involved in one of their lover's spats, so she tried to pretend like she didn't see them. But, as with all things in her life at the moment, Ginny was just not that lucky.  
  
"Ginny!" Ron yelled as when he saw his sister. "Tell Hermione that there is SO a picture of Viktor Krum with some blonde chick in Witch Weekly!!" Ron said, very loudly, with self-satisfied look on his face.  
  
"Ron, your sister is certainly smart enough to know that those pictures are never real..." Hermione yelled back at Ron.  
  
Ginny just watched them argue with an uncomfortable look on her face, and tried to tactfully get the hell out of the line of fire. She still, however, caught some bits and pieces as she attempted to get away.  
  
"Well, why would that stupid prat want to come here and visit you, anyway!" Ron was saying, putting his foot in his mouth, of course, as his face turned steadily redder, coming close to the color of his hair.  
  
"Unlike some people, Ron, Viktor actually knows I'm a girl, and he knows what to do with one!!" Hermione stated as she turned around and stalked away.  
  
Ron looked at Ginny, shaking his head. "Girls...." he said.  
  
Ginny just gave Ron a look, which of course made him remember that Ginny was a girl, and would not be the best person to complain to about girls in general.  
  
"Sorry, Gin. You're a sister, not a girl.." he said, digging himself deeper into the hole.  
  
Ginny just raised an eyebrow at him and said "Let's just go to the Quidditch field already, Ron, before you say something else stupid."  
  
Ron gathered up his broom, and headed off to the Quidditch field, with his sister following behind.  
  
Draco Malfoy had witnessed the whole Mudblood/muggle-lover fight, and was slightly amused. He thought the two of them were rather funny. Anybody, even Draco Malfoy, could see that Potter's sidekicks would rather be snogging each other than following Potter around. But, for some reason, the two of them would just fight, constantly. Draco wondered how Potter could stand it sometimes. Then he wondered how they could stand Potter. This gave Draco something to think about for a while...  
  
Meanwhile, while Draco was contemplating life, Ginny was currently trying to resist the urge to hex someone on the quidditch team. She just kept trying to think happy thoughts, and tried to ignore how much of a git her brother was being.  
  
"And we have all these stupid girls on the team...." Ron was currently saying to Harry as they discussed a game strategy. Ginny looked at Sarah and Meghan, her fellow chasers, and saw the disgruntled looks on their faces get worse as Ron continued. Ginny decided it was time to intervene, even if she couldn't hex her brother.  
  
"Ron, you might want to cool the girl-hater vibe. This is a team you know." Ginny said, in what she thought was a reasonable tone of voice.  
  
The other boys on the team, started backing away, except for Ron and Harry, when Ron said to Ginny, "Oh Ginny, who asked you? Why don't you just go do your nails or something until the game starts."  
  
Ginny knew her brother well enough to know that he was only saying these things because he was still mad at Hermione, and wanted to pick a fight with anyone he could. But Ginny really wasn't in the mood to deal with her prat of a brother right now....  
  
"Ron, I think you need to cool it down a little before we have a mutiny here..." Harry said as he tried to calm down his angry friend. But Ron wasn't in the mood to listen as visions of Hermione and Krum continued to dance in his head...  
  
"Harry, shut up! Ginny and the PMS squad, shut up, and pay attention to these plans. I know how tough it is for you girls to do anything but bitch about stuff, but we have a Quidditch match to discuss here." Ron said, as he bent over his precious plans, not even seeing the 3 wands pointed in his direction.....  
  
After Madame Pomfrey cleared up Ron's combination of a Bat Bogey hex, ear enlarging charm, and silencing charm, he was back down at the field and ready to play Quidditch. He did, however glare at the girls, until all three touched their wands fondly, at which point Ron backed away and said "I'm sorry I was such a git" like he was coached, as an approving Harry nodded his head at Ron's words.  
  
At this point the game was about ready to start, and the team gathered up their brooms to get ready to fly onto the field. Ginny looked over and saw the Slytherin team, where she saw that blonde git Malfoy sitting between Crabbe and Goyle, with a bored look on his face, and his Firebolt 3 in his hand. She knew this was going to be a difficult match, because all the Slytherin players were huge and tough looking, and as much as she hated to admit it, their team was just as good as hers.  
  
Madame Hooch called the players on the field, and everyone mounted their broomsticks, and got into position. Then Madame Hooch released the balls. Ginny was a chaser, so she was right in the thick of it, trying to get points for the team. Out of the corner of her eye, as Ginny watched for the Quaffle to be thrown to her and as she dodged Bludgers, she saw Malfoy and Harry, circling around the rest of the players as they looked for the golden Snitch.  
  
Malfoy was watching for the Snitch, and observing Potter to make sure he didn't see the Snitch first. So far, he hadn't seen that tiny glint of gold, so he watched the action of the other players. He saw that Weasley girl score again, with a speed and grace on the broomstick that few could match. He knew that she would be the new seeker on the Gryffindor team next year, as Potter would be graduating with him this year. As Malfoy watched and waited, he suddenly saw it. That flash of gold, over on the ground, and he dove for it....  
  
Ginny saw Malfoy and Harry diving for the snitch, and flew out of their way. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that Crabbe slammed a Bludger directly at her. Ginny tried to dodge the Bludger, but it slammed into her broom stick, causing her to veer out of control. At that exact moment, Malfoy and Harry flew right into the path of where her out of control broomstick was headed.....  
  
The next thing Ginny knew, she was in a heap on the ground, with her limbs entangled with the boy whom she happened to be on top of. "Malfoy, are you okay?" Ginny said, as her head cleared and she realized what had happened. She had taken Malfoy down with her, and they had both ended up crashing in the lawn surrounding the Quidditch field. Luckily, Dumbledore must have charmed their landing so that they didn't land too hard, but Ginny was still aching from the impact, and she suspected Malfoy must be in a lot worse shape.  
  
Malfoy just groaned as the Weasley girl asked him if he was okay. The landing could have been a little softer... But still, he couldn't complain about ending up with a pretty girl on top of him... Then Draco realized that this was a Weasley he was thinking about being pretty...  
  
Then Draco said, "Damn, Weasley, do I LOOK like a pillow to you? Why the hell do you keep falling on me? Are you TRYING to kill me?" Draco was a little upset, as this was the second time the girl had landed on top of him.  
  
" Believe me, if I had a choice, you'd be the last person I'd pick to break my fall, Malfoy. Maybe its fate's sick idea of a joke." Ginny joked, as she disentangled her limbs from Draco's, pushed herself off the ground, and rubbed her sore elbow.  
  
Draco just laid there for a moment longer, looking up at the red head, and scowling as he said "Well, then, I think fate's trying to kill me...., because you sure aren't light, Weasley."  
  
It was at this point that the first of the crowd of concerned people reached the scene of the accident. In the lead was Ginny's very worried mother, closely followed by her oldest brother Charlie, who had also come to watch the match. Molly Weasley was crying, and gave a squeal as she saw Ginny standing and in one piece, running over to envelop the girl in a huge hug. Charlie took a look at the blonde haired boy still sitting on the ground, and offered him a hand. Draco just glared at the Weasley, and got up without any assistance, and looked around at the crowd approaching the scene. Potter and his Weasley sidekick were on their way over, but were having difficulty because Ron had to help the limping Harry. Well, at least that Weasley girl took out Potter too, Malfoy thought spitefully. He looked over at the girl, who was still being attacked by a plump red haired older woman, who must be her mother.  
  
"I can't believe you're okay, oh,Ginny my poor baby...." Molly was saying, practically strangling Ginny with her hugs.  
  
Charlie said, looking at Malfoy, "Well, mum, I think this boy here broke her fall...". Upon hearing this, Molly let go of Ginny, turned around, and embraced a surprised Draco in what he thought was a death grip. But then the woman started crying some more, and saying "Oh thank you, thank you..." as she, well..., hugged him, as Draco tried to squirm away.....  
  
Fate saw the priceless look on Malfoy's face when Molly Weasley hugged him, and started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh... This plan was so much fun to watch.....  
  
Coming up: Will Snape ever get done with his "personal business" and make an appearance in this story? What kind of joke have Fred and George cooked up now? And Draco and Ginny spend some quality time together in detention, I wonder why?..... Find out all this and more in Chapter 5, "My Frog's Not Working, Can I Kiss Yours?" 


	5. My Frog's Not Working, Can I Kiss Yours?

Disclaimer: I deny ownership of any of the characters in this story, and if one of my other personalities says otherwise, I'll have you know they all lie... Honest... I swear.... I don't own anything, J.K. Rowling does....  
  
I'm SO SORRY I haven't updated in quite a while. A slight case of writer's block, a very busy couple of weeks, and a car wrecking into my kitchen really affected the amount of writing time that I have had. But, here it is, and hopefully it is worth the wait - Chapter 5!!!  
  
Author's Notes: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I appreciate it a lot. I also just wanted to ask here, how many people thought Ginny was going to hug Malfoy last chapter? Come on, admit it, most of you did... I'll be honest, even I thought Ginny would hug him for breaking her fall... until the picture of Molly Weasley hugging the poor boy instead popped into my head, and just wouldn't go away until I wrote it into this story... Couldn't you just imagine the look on Draco's face? And in front of the entire school... So much better than my original thought.....  
  
And on to the story:  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Summary: Ginny Weasley makes a vow to give up dating, but fate keeps throwing the least likely prince charming in her path. Can a frog really be a prince in disguise?  
  
Last time, we ended with freaky Quidditch accidents, another Ginny/Draco collision, and a Weasley/Malfoy hug....  
  
Coming Up in this Chapter: Snape makes an appearance, Fred and George show up, and Draco and Ginny spend some quality time in detention... Let's find out what's going to happen now....  
  
Chapter 5: "My Frog's Not Working! Can I Kiss Yours?"  
  
Harry Potter wasn't very happy at the moment. He was, in fact, having a very bad week. It had all started with a Quidditch match. He was playing seeker the match, and had spotted the Slytherin seeker, Draco Malfoy, his mortal enemy since he was eleven years old, making a dive for the Snitch. Harry had, of course, made a dive in the same direction as fast as his broomstick would go, heading straight for his team's best chaser, Ginny Weasley, his best friends little sister. Now, Ginny was quick and smart, a real intelligent player, and started to fly out of the way of his and Draco's dives. Unfortunately, at that point she got slammed by a Bludger, and went flying out of control, taking both him and Draco with her....  
  
Harry had landed on the field, with his ankle twisted underneath him. Which was the first bad thing to ruin his week. His best friend Ron, the team's Keeper, had flown down to check on him. Ron had helped him up, and had helped him limp with the rest of the crowd to find out about how Ginny had fared in her crash. What they had discovered was that Ginny had landed on top of Malfoy, and neither were hurt.  
  
Then, Ron's mother, had hugged Malfoy, causing both Harry and Ron to pause in shock, and Ron's face to grow red in anger as he thought about his poor mum unknowingly hugging the Malfoy git. But then, they had gotten a glimpse at the look on Malfoy's face, and that made it all worth it to see....  
  
Until Molly let go of Draco, and he discovered what was clutched in his hand, and showed it to the whole crowd.... The golden snitch....  
  
But spraining his ankle and losing the Quidditch match to his worst enemy were not the worst things that happened to him that week. It was only the beginning of a downhill slide. The day after the Quidditch match, Snape had come back from whatever "personal business" he had been taking care of (Harry bet it was something for the Order and that it had something to do with what he, Ron, and Hermione were investigating in their spare time), and had come back at his slimiest git best. Points were deducted from Harry, Hermione, and Ron at an alarming rate, and Snape had given Harry a detention yesterday for blowing up a potion in the potions classroom. It hadn't been Harry's fault - that git Malfoy had added extra batwings when his back was turned - but Snape was just looking for reasons to pick on Harry.  
  
So, after a horrible week, the only thing that was keeping Harry from being in a completely horrible mood was the knowledge that Ron's brothers, Fred and George Weasley, were coming to visit. The twins ran a profitable joke shop in Diagon Alley, and could always be counted on to make Harry laugh. Which, after that last week, Harry could really use a laugh.  
  
Ginny Weasley was also looking forward to the arrival of her favorite older brothers. She was smiling as she walked down the hallway, thinking about the fun she was going to have when Fred and George came to visit. The pretty red head never noticed the boys looking at her smiling face with admiring (but very cautious) looks on their faces.  
  
But Draco Malfoy noticed the boys admiring the smiling girl. He felt uneasy about all the looks the girl was getting, but he was really unsure as to why he felt so strange. He could certainly understand why all the boys were looking at Ginny. She was very pretty. She was petite, yet well built, with curves in all the right places. And she had all that gorgeous red hair, which she let grow long, and it ended in waves midway down her back. All that was just the view from far away. As Draco knew from experience, the Weasley girl was just as pretty up close, with her long- lashed brown eyes, wide full lips, and creamy skin. The only thing marring that creamy skin was a trail of light freckles across her small nose, which Draco found cute. All of the sudden, Draco realized he was admiring a WEASLEY......  
  
Malfoy then decided he just needed to find something productive to do, so that he could keep his mind off of the Weasley girl. So, Malfoy headed off to find Crabbe and Goyle for a bit of first-year torture.... But Draco really wasn't looking forward to it very much. Lately, even getting Potter in trouble with Snape was boring... And Draco really didn't know why.  
  
Fred Weasley was excited. He and his brother George had come up with the best prank since the swamp they had created back in the Umbridge torture days. This prank was perfect, and was guaranteed to make their joke shop tons of money. And what better place to debut the newest and best joke gift ever, than on a visit to their old school, Hogwarts, where lots and lots of their customers would see the new product. And his brother George had come up with the perfect prat to show off their new product on....  
  
Vincent Crabbe was hungry. Now, to those who knew him, this was nothing new. What was new was the bag of candies in his hand. He had been "given" these chocolates by a first year Gryffindor that him and Goyle were tormenting earlier. Unfortunately, tormenting first years wasn't as interesting without Malfoy helping out, but apparently Malfoy wasn't as interested in first year torture as he used to be. But Crabbe had this bag of chocolate candies in his hand, and Goyle had taken a couple of other sweets from the kid, so they were heading off to eat their bounty, along with their lunch, in the cafeteria.  
  
In the cafeteria, Ginny Weasley and her fellow Gryffindor's waited patiently. Fred and George had already warned them to pay attention to the Slytherin table today, and that was what they were all doing, because every Gryffidor knew that it whatever it was would be definitely worth watching. As a group, they all watched as Malfoy sat down at his normal spot at the table. Then they watched as Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle took there places next to him. None of the Slytherin's noticed the stares of anticipation they were getting from most of the other student's in the school...certainly not Vincent Crabbe.  
  
Crabbe was, at this moment, oblivious to the stares, and was getting ready to eat his first one the bag of chocolate frogs he had stolen. That was, until Malfoy interrupted him.  
  
"Aren't you going to share, Crabbe?" Malfoy stated with a smirk. Now, even Crabbe, who was by all accounts "not the brightest", knew that this was not a request for him to give out his bounty. This was a order, and of course Crabbe complied. He obediently handed out a chocolate frog to Malfoy, Pansy, Millicent, Blaise, and Goyle.  
  
Fred and George hid in the corner, watching Crabbe hand out the frogs, and started to laugh. This was even better than they had planned.  
  
As the 7th year Slytherin's began to munch on their chocolate frogs, Malfoy suddenly realized that something was wrong, and stopped with his hand halfway to his mouth. He suddenly remembered that he had never seen these chocolate frogs jump... And then he noticed the interested looks of most of the students in the school directed at his house's table. He thought for a split second, then decided he might as well just sit back and watch.  
  
Goyle was the first to finish off his frog, as he always ate small things in one bite. Crabbe was next to finish, as he took 2 bites to finish the frog. Blaise was next, as he loved chocolate, and quickly wolfed down the candy. Millicent and Pansy both nibbled delicately on their chocolate, until, all of the sudden, they both dropped their frogs in shock as they began to scream at what was happening to Crabbe. He was starting to turn GREEN.....  
  
Suddenly, chaos broke out in the cafeteria as three 17 year old boys turned into frogs, and began to jump around. One of the frogs jumped up, and landed on Pansy's head, which caused her to shriek even louder. Another frog hopped around until it ended up at the teacher's table, sitting in the middle of Snape's plate, which it promptly began to eat. The last frog, well the last frog hopped out the window.  
  
As a prefect, Draco supposed he should get up and help catch the frogs, but watching the chaos was entirely too much fun. So Draco sat back and just took in the scene. That was, until Pansy started to get a greenish hue to her skin and suddenly flicked out a long tongue to catch a fly right by Draco's cheek. Then Draco pushed back his chair, knocking it over, to get away from that grotesque frog tongue. But in trying to get away, Draco tripped over the fallen chair, and ended up falling into the person behind him, who was trying to help catch one of the frogs....  
  
Ginny Weasley was trying to help capture the frog that used to be Blaise Zambini, when someone scampering away from the Slytherin table fell into her. She landed on her back, and found herself staring into a pair of gorgeous grey eyes...  
  
Ron Weasley couldn't believe his eyes. He looked over to see how the other students helping to try to catch the Slytherin frogs to see Malfoy lying on top of his baby sister, as they stared into each other's eyes.  
  
Ginny Weasley realized it was Malfoy who was currently cutting of her air supply, and tried pushing the heavy git off of her.  
  
"Ouch, that hurt, Weasel." Malfoy said as Ginny kicked his leg to try to get him to move off of her. Malfoy moved and stood up, leaving Ginny on the ground, as he looked down at her. "Well, Weasley, I must say, you sure do look good on the floor like that. Exactly where someone like you belongs." Malfoy said with his ever present smirk. Ginny just glared at Malfoy as she looked up at him, and let her Weasley temper get the best of her. The slimey git wasn't even offering to help her up, after knocking her down like that....  
  
Malfoy never knew what hit him, Ginny moved so fast. But as soon as he felt the first Bat Bogey attack, he grabbed his wand and hexed Ginny right back. And it was then that Professor McGonigal and Professor Snape happened on the hexed pair.  
  
"Weasley, Malfoy... I'm very disappointed in you. Two prefects hexing each other... What kind of example are you setting for the rest of the students?" Professor McGonigal said with her usual stern voice and look.  
  
Professor Snape just looked at the hexed pair, with his ever present sneer. "Weasley, you have detention for a week." he said to the petrified girl. "Malfoy, go to the hospital wing and get that fixed" he said to his favorite student.  
  
Professor McGonigal wasn't going to let Draco get off without punishment when her Gryffindor student had gotten detention. She said, "Malfoy, detention for a week. With Miss Weasley... Maybe then you two can learn to solve your differences without hexing each other..." Then she un- petrified Weasley, and sent Malfoy to the hospital wing.  
  
So, that was how Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy ended up in detention together. They both thought they were going to end up with an easy assignment, like cleaning the potions supply closet or scrubbing cauldrons, or feeding Hagrid's new pets. However, Snape and McGonigal had finally come up with a much better detention task, after arguing for an hour. Ginny and Draco were required to research and come up with a solution to fixing the little frog problem created by Ginny's visiting brothers their first night in detention. They figured that Ginny would know her brother's well enough to know how to fix one of their little jokes, and it would therefore save them a lot of time and effort in breaking the frog charm...  
  
Ginny, unfortunately, did know the way to break the charm, as Fred and George had came up with the idea for their little joke from her. But that didn't mean she had to like doing it....  
  
Malfoy stood staring at the box of frogs that used to be his "friends" and looked at the redhead sitting at the desk calmly doing her homework. They hadn't said a word to each other for the entire detention. He had been staring at the frogs for the half-hour of the detention, trying to figure out how to break the charm. He looked at Ginny, and knew she knew the secret. He finally swallowed his pride, and decided to ask her. "So, Weasley, how do we break the darn charm?" he sneered at her.  
  
Ginny looked up from her homework and looked at the sneering blonde git. She looked at her watch, and mentally calculated the time it would take for them to complete their task. She then decided that she had made Malfoy sweat over the task long enough, and got up to stand beside by the frog's box.  
  
"Well, Malfoy, we have to kiss them, and it should break the charm a half hour from the time we kiss them. Like in the fairy tales, the joke is designed for someone to kiss a frog and it should turn into a prince or princess. It's a Valentine's Day joke Fred and George came up with, but it could also have other uses, like turning a bully who steals your candy and lunch money into a frog for a while", she said, while looking at the disgusting frogs in the box that she would have to help kiss.  
  
Malfoy just looked at Ginny like she was nuts. Then he thought of who had created the charmed frogs, and knew that she wasn't. "Darn, evil, idiotic, red-headed devil twins." He muttered as he picked up a frog and puckered his lips, with a sickened look on his face.  
  
Ginny just gave a resigned sigh as she picked up another of the green frogs.  
  
After they had both had kissed all the frogs, Ginny looked at Malfoy, with both of them still holding the last frog they had kissed, and put the frog in her hand towards Malfoy's face.  
  
"Well, Malfoy, it appears my frog's not working. Can I kiss yours?" Ginny joked, as she looked at the blonde boy staring at the frog she put towards his face with a completely disgusted look on his face.  
  
"Well Weasley, I have a list of things I would like you to kiss, but I really don't think a frog is on it." Malfoy said, with a smirk. "But I guess if you like to kiss frogs so much, go ahead" Malfoy said as he shoved the frog in his hand in her face.  
  
"I'm having second thoughts on that offer, Malfoy." Ginny said, as she backed away from the frog. "I've kissed enough frogs. Let me know if you see a prince anywhere." Ginny said, as she put her frog back in the box, grabbed her bookbag, and started to walk out of the room.  
  
Malfoy said, as he watched the red-head walk away, "Well, I guess that means you won't be kissing Potter anytime soon, then, because that git sure is the biggest frog I've ever met."  
  
Ginny paused in the doorway. She looked over her shoulder at Malfoy and said, with a Malfoy-like smirk on her pretty face, "Some might say that about you, Malfoy." She then walked out the door before Malfoy could reply to her remark.  
  
Malfoy watched her go with a small smile on his face. Weasley sure did know how to take his insults, and dish some right back at him. That Weasley girl sure did make his life more interesting that it has been in a long, long time.....  
  
Fate took time from her busy life to watch how things were going, and liked what she saw.... Wait until Draco and Ginny see what she has planned next....  
  
Coming Up: What does Harry want to talk to Ginny about? Why isn't Hermione studying? What's Malfoy up to now? And Neville has an accident.... Coming up in Chapter 6, "I Think Neville Broke the Slipper" 


	6. I Think Neville Broke the Slipper!

Disclaimer: The characters in this chapter, and all other chapters in this fanfiction do not belong to me in any way, shape, or form. I firmly deny ownership of said characters, as ownership belongs to the author, J.K. Rowling. I am merely borrowing said characters for the purpose of writing a fictional story meant to honor the creativity of said author, and do not mean in any way to infringe upon any rights of the author of the Harry Potter stories. So, to sum up all that in a short, simple way... Owner of characters - J.K. Rowling, Owner of nothing in this story - Me.  
  
Author's note: Thank you for the reviews!!! I really appreciate all who review this story. As a first time fan faction author, your reviews really boost my confidence. Thank you so much!!! Also, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the greatest, I worked really hard on it, but it seems like it doesn't really move the plot on very much. It's more humor than anything... I promise next chapter will move the story forward a little more...  
  
And, onward, to:  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Last time, in our story, there was lots of Fred and George chaos, kissing frogs, and Ginny/Draco quality detention time...  
  
Coming up this time - Harry needs to talk to Ginny, Hermione takes a study break, Malfoy's up to something, and Neville has a slight accident...  
  
Chapter 6  
  
"I Think Neville Broke the Slipper"  
  
Ginny Weasley was tired. She had just survived the four most horrible days ever, and she still had 3 more to go. Her first day of detention was pretty easy, until her and Malfoy actually had to actually kiss those frogs. But, she guessed she could always blackmail Malfoy by telling the school that he had accidently kissed Crabbe in his frog form. Unfortunately, he could probably blackmail her back with the fact that she kissed Zambini, Goyle, and had also accidently kissed Pansy Parkinson in her frog form (thinking that she was kissing the Crabbe frog). Luckily, Malfoy and his friends were too embarrassed to spread around exactly how Ginny and Draco had changed them back. Ginny had only found out when Draco had tried to taunt her with the information the next day, at least until Ginny had quickly figured out that if she had kissed Zambini, Goyle, and Pansy, Malfoy must have kissed Crabbe...  
  
The second day of detention with Malfoy was spent arguing about anything and everything. They had first started arguing about the whole frog thing, but then proceed to argue about so many things that even Ginny forgot what they were arguing about. Fortunately (or unfortunately - depends on which way you look at it), Snape had confiscated their wands before they began their detention task of cleaning the potions closet. Ginny guessed that maybe the close quarters and the heat in the room had caused them to argue about everything. All Ginny knew was that she had come out of there feeling really hot, with a slight shortness of breath, and a strange feeling quite unlike anything she had ever felt before. She thought that all the arguing might have been making her sick, but some time spent relaxing in the Gryffidor common room reading her Arithmancy book had quickly cured her of those strange feelings.  
  
The third day of detention, her and Malfoy spent feeding Hagrid's new pets - Snerkles. Snerkles were another of Hagrid's "animals nobody has ever heard of before which appear to serve no purpose except to try to maim unsuspecting students" class experiments, and appeared to have the body of a huge spider, the head of a venomous snake, with the fire breathing capabilities of a dragon, and a stinger like a scorpion on their long, horned tails.. Malfoy swore that the only thing they really ate was fingers and toes of Hogwart's students, and had refused to help Ginny feed them. He instead just sat and watched Ginny try to give them the food that Hagrid swore they would eat. Ginny just thought they liked to eat each other, but Hagrid was convinced they preferred to eat a gruel made of flubberworms, mandrake root, and butterbeer.  
  
The forth day of detention, Ginny and Draco were required to help Filch clean the Great Hall following dinner. That was quite an experience. Ginny never knew that 100's of 11 - 17 year olds could be such really messy eaters. It was hard work, cleaning up and scrubbing - without magic - but it was quite amusing when Filch thought Draco wasn't working hard enough, and mentioned to Draco his ideas on how to punish the evil Hogwart's students. Draco worked pretty hard and really quickly after hearing about Filch's ideas of corporal punishment.  
  
Currently, Ginny was enjoying a break from detention. Both her and Draco were given tonight off from detention, as the professors felt they needed a night off from detention to study. Ginny was very happy about this reprieve, as she really didn't know how much more she could stand Malfoy smirking at her, and firing off insults at her as fast as she could retaliate. And somehow, Malfoy managed to look good, even when he was smirking and being an insufferable git. Ginny could just imagine what he would look like if he actually smiled and was nice for a while, with his tall, leanly muscled body, aristocratic facial features, impossibly silver hair, and gorgeous grey eyes that Ginny could lose herself in if it was anyone but DRACO MALFOY....  
  
"Ginny"  
  
Ginny was thankfully startled out of her completely inappropriate thoughts about a completely inappropriate boy by a voice calling her name from behind. She turned around and looked, and saw Harry running towards her, calling her name.  
  
"What's up, Harry?" Ginny asked when Harry caught up to her. Harry was looking his usual handsome but disheveled self, with his rumpled robes and flyaway hair, and gorgeous green eyes magnified by his glasses. Ginny sighed to herself as she looked at Harry, thinking to herself that it was too bad he was so much like another brother to her. If it hadn't been such a brotherly relationship, Ginny thought that Harry would be the only possible prince to tempt her away from her "no more boyfriends while she is still at Hogwart's" vow.  
  
Harry was looking at Ginny as he walked beside her in the hall. He seemed sort of nervous about something, and Ginny was starting to get really curious.  
  
"Well, Ginny, I need to ask you for a HUGE favor." He said as he looked down from his 5'11'' height at the very petite redhead.  
  
Ginny looked up at Harry and wondered what this was all about. She knew Harry well enough to know he would never ask for help unless it was really, really, really important. Harry was still looking at Ginny very nervously as they stopped in the middle of the hallway.  
  
"Well, I know you are in detention with Malfoy for a couple more days." Harry started, green eyes darting everywhere, trying to avoid Ginny's cinnamon colored eyes.  
  
Ginny was really starting to get curious, and continued to stare at Harry as he paused to look around behind him like he expected someone to be trying to eavesdrop on them. Ginny got tired of waiting for Harry to continue, so she asked, "So, what's it matter to you who I have detention with?"  
  
Harry just took a deep breath before he started to talk again. "Well, Ginny, we think Malfoy's up to something." Harry said with a worried look on his face.  
  
"You mean you-know-who type something?" Ginny whispered to Harry, as a worried look suddenly appeared on her pretty face.  
  
"Well, our sources say that Malfoy's been acting kind of funny lately." Harry said, like he was in charge of a team of spies or something..  
  
Ginny just looked at Harry kind of funny when he talked in "spy talk" like that. She wondered if he knew that sounding like that muggle movie character James Bond made him seem really weird. Ginny knew You-Know-Who wasn't a laughing matter, but she was hard pressed not to laugh at "Harry the Spy". "So, Ginny" Harry continued, oblivious to the red-head's secret amusement at his CIA attitude, "I was wondering if you could try to feel out why he's acting so weird, since you have to spend the next couple of nights in detention with him.", Harry asked as he pulled Ginny to the side of the hallway and out of the way of the oncoming traffic heading off to dinner. "Any information you can get from him would really help", Harry said to Ginny, with a serious look on his face. .  
  
Ginny just gawked at Harry, and started to wonder if she should start humming the "Mission: Impossible" theme or something. She felt like asking Harry if something was going to self destruct after he was done giving her mission orders. Somehow, though, Ginny didn't think Harry would appreciate the humor in that very much.  
  
Harry was waiting patiently for Ginny to say she was going to get some information from Draco, as he saw the person they were talking about walking down the hallway. He noted to himself that Draco appeared to pause slightly when he saw Harry and Ginny in the hallway, standing very close as they faced each other and talked, but Harry didn't think anything of it. It was well know to all that Draco hated Harry. What Harry failed to notice was that the slight pause in Draco's stride and the tightening of his wide jaw did not happen until he saw the girl whom Potter had cornered in the hallway. The girl with a memorable, one of a kind, mane of red hair...  
  
Draco Malfoy was patrolling the hallway, looking for something to do, when he happened to see Harry Potter. As Harry Potter was his favorite person to torture, he was at first happy (or at least as happy as he was capable of feeling) to see Harry in the hallway without his two sidekicks. That was until he saw the girl Harry had cornered by the wall in the hallway. Draco didn't know why those two huddled together made him a little upset, as he usually loved it when the freaks of this school hooked up together. It only gave him more ammunition to use against them when he made fun of them. But, for some reason, Draco didn't like seeing Ginny and Harry together. Maybe it was because he didn't like the idea of anyone else hexing that git Potter but him, which Draco suspected Ginny would be doing to Potter fairly soon, given the nature of her temper. With the comforting vision of Potter with Bat Bogey's attacking him in his head, Draco continued on his way down the hallway past the muggle-loving pair.  
  
Ginny wasn't sure that Harry was right about Draco being up to something. She felt that if anything, the only change in Draco was that he was acting a little nicer lately, only occasionally picking on 1st years and Harry, Hermione, and Ron. In fact, Ginny thought that one of the only people he tormented a lot anymore was her, and that was just because they had detention together all the time. However, Ginny knew what she was expected to do, so she did the only thing she could in the circumstances.  
  
"I'll do it." said Ginny to Harry. "I've always wanted to be a spy, you know" she said with a smile.  
  
Harry just smiled down at the girl, as he had known she would never refuse to do what he had asked. As he looked down at her, he suddenly noticed how pretty she was when she smiled, and the way the lights seemed to glint off her shiny red hair. But Harry had more important things to think about than that, so he started to turn to go on his way.  
  
"Thanks, Gin. You're the best." Harry said as he walked away. Ginny just sighed to herself as he left, and started off the opposite direction to go study.  
  
Meanwhile, Ron Weasley was trying to lighten Hermione up. Ron and Hermione were currently in the library, and Hermione was still trying to study. Ron, however, thought Hermione had studied enough, and was currently trying his best to distract her. At the moment, he was drawing a very good caricature of Draco Malfoy and Vincent Crabbe kissing. Hermione was trying to ignore him, but the picture was just too good. A giggle escaped her lips, and Ron knew a feeling of satisfaction, at least until Hermione stopped smiling and glared at him.  
  
"Ron, would you please stop that!!" Hermione snapped at him. "I need to study for NEWTs you know. If you aren't going to study with me, then please leave." She said as she stared the red-haired boy down.  
  
"'Mione, you really need to lighten up, you know? NEWTs are how long away? You really need a break.." Ron said to Hermione, trying desperately to convince her to stop studying.  
  
"Ron, why do you even sit herewith me if you aren't going to study, anyway. Why aren't you off with Harry somewhere?" Hermione asked him, genuinely puzzled.  
  
"Well, Hermione, I just like spending time with you." Ron said honestly, as he looked into Hermione's eyes.  
  
Hermione blushed. She looked at Ron for a moment, then she glanced back at her book. She closed the book and looked at Ron again, and sighed. "C'mon Ron, I guess I'm done studying for today. Let's go do something fun." she said, as she grabbed Ron's hand and smiled shyly at him.  
  
Now, Ron Weasley is a completely normal, totally hormonal teenage boy with his brains located in that certain unmentionable in a PG-13 story part of his anatomy, but even he knew that he wasn't being invited to do anything like snog in the Astronomy tower (no matter how much he would secretly have liked to). But even Ron (who liked to think he knew Hermione quite well), had never in a million years suspected where Hermione was taking him...  
  
Neville Longbottom was currently looking for a place to hide and study. He tended to stay away from the library, as he was always bothered by Crabbe and Goyle every time he tried to study in there. And his usual place to study, the Room of Requirement, was currently being used by what appeared to be a Disco dancing Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Neville just had to shake his head at that, as he went to find a new place. He searched the school, finally finding an empty room in a hidden area on the 2nd floor. Or at least it appeared to be empty of people, until he saw a bright red head sitting at a table in the corner, reading a book.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Ginny, I was just looking for a place to study." Neville said, as he went to back out of the room.  
  
"It's okay, Neville." Ginny said as she smiled kindly at the shy young man. "You can study with me."  
  
Neville sat down at the table with Ginny, and got out his Herbology book. As he was getting out the book, he looked around the room, and became fascinated with some of the unusual objects that were there. On one table, there was a display of a very ornate mirror and an apple with one small bite taken out of it. On another table, there was a beautiful rose in a glass container on display. In a corner of the room, there was an old fashioned spinning wheel, but what really fascinated Neville was what was displayed on the left hand side of the room. It was a display of a pumpkin, a beautiful ball gown, and a pair of delicate looking glass slippers.  
  
Ginny saw the way Neville was looking at things in the room, and decided to enlighten him. "This is the fairytale room, I think. It looks like a lot of magic stuff from fairytales is stored here." Ginny said. "I found this room yesterday after I was done with detention, and I was fascinated."  
  
Neville got up to go stand by the display of the slipper. He picked one up, and began to examine it. "You know, I've heard that all the fairytales we hear are really true stories. This must really be Cinderella's slipper." Neville said, as he brought one of the slippers over to the table to examine it more closely.  
  
As both Ginny and Neville sat at the table looking at the beautiful slipper, neither one heard the noise of other people entering the room. But a cough from one of those people had both of them looking up in surprise.  
  
Malfoy was surprised to see Ginny and Neville in this room. This room was one he and his friends had discovered long ago, and often used it as a place where they could plot things against Harry Potter and his friends. At the moment, he had ordered Crabbe and Goyle to come here with him to discuss their plans for the newest way to make Harry miserable. They had been planning it for weeks, and Potter would be so surprised. Draco wasn't stupid, he knew that Potter knew he was up to something, but he expected that Potter thought it had something to do with the Dark Lord. Unfortunately for Potter, it was just another bout of Potter torture that Draco had up his sleeve. But first, Crabbe, Goyle, and him had to get rid of these two Gryffindors, so they could continue to make their plans.  
  
Upon hearing the cough and seeing Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle enter the room, Neville stood to face his tormentors. As he stood up, he dropped the slipper he was looking at on his chair.  
  
"What do you guys want?" Neville asked, trying his best to sound belligerent.  
  
"This room is all we want right now." stated Malfoy. "So take your muggle loving girlfriend and go somewhere else."  
  
"We were here first!" Ginny said, as she gave the three Slytherin boys a true Weasley glare.  
  
"Well, we'll be here last." stated Goyle.  
  
"Well, we're not leaving." Neville said, with a worried look in his eyes and a slight tremor in his voice. He then proceed to plop himself back down into the chair....  
  
Draco was shocked when Longbottom let out a piercing shriek after sitting down in the chair. Ginny, Crabbe, and Goyle were all just staring at the boy, pretty much clueless as to what had happened.  
  
"What is wrong with him?" asked Crabbe, as Neville jumped out of the chair and started running around the room like his pants are on fire.  
  
Ginny was still trying to figure out what had happened, until it suddenly hit her....  
  
"I think Neville broke the slipper." Ginny said, as the three Slytherin boys gave her very confused looks.  
  
"What the bloody hell are you talking about, Weasley?" Draco asked.  
  
"You know, Malfoy, the glass slipper... He sat on it." Ginny said pragmatically. Ginny started to head out the door after poor Neville, when Draco grabbed her arm.  
  
"I'll go after him." Draco said with a sigh. "The last thing the idiot needs right now is a girl going after him. I'll get him to the hospital ward."  
  
"No you will not, Malfoy. You'll just make fun of him." Ginny argued, trying to fight her arm away from Malfoy to go after Neville.  
  
"It's one of the duties of being a prefect, Weasley. I have to help when someone is hurt." Draco said with a sneer. "And the last thing I want is to lose the power this prefect badge brings." He said, and smirked.  
  
"Okay, I guess you can help him better than I can at the moment, as he probably has his pants off already trying to get the glass out." Ginny said with a resigned sigh. "But if I hear you mistreated him in any way.... You know what I'll do." Ginny said, as she touched her wand pocket fondly with her free hand.  
  
Fate watched the happenings with an amused smile. She hated doing that to poor Neville, but she had to find a way to make Ginny start to see that Draco could be nice, if only he had the motivation... Fate was certain her plan was working, but she knew her two unwilling people would fight her plan every step of the way.... Wait until they find out that they can't fight fate......  
  
Next time, on The Least Likely Prince Charming.... What exactly is Draco's Potter torture plan, and will it really work? Is Ginny cut out for a career as a spy? And why does Dumbledore have a twinkle in his eye now? Find out all this and more in Chapter 7, entitled "Did Dumbledore OD on Sugar, Again!?" 


	7. Did Dumbledore OD on Sugar, Again?

Chapter 7 The Least Likely Prince Charming Did Dumbledore Overdosed On Sugar, Again!?  
  
Ginny Weasley glanced in her date planner as she walked down the hallway towards breakfast, and looked sadly at what she had to do today. The list was as follows:  
  
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Potions  
  
10:00 - 12:00 PM Double Arithmancy  
  
1:00 PM Transfiguration  
  
2:00 PM Charms  
  
3:00 PM History of Magic  
  
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Detention (cleaning portraits in Dumbledore's office with D.M. (stupid git).  
  
10:00 PM Astronomy  
  
Ginny just shook her head sadly at the long list of things she had to do. She really just wanted to pretend to be sick today, but Madame Pomfrey had caught on to that Fred and George creation a while ago, so there was no way to fool her. Ginny briefly toyed with the idea of asking a friend to hex her, but as that is always a risky business (having a fellow student hex you to get out of class could often have a person being laid up a lot longer and in a lot more pain than he or she had originally anticipated), so Ginny got prepared to drag herself through the long day.  
  
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was headed to breakfast. He was frowning as he shuffled his way down the hallway. His fellow students moved out of his way as he navigated the hallways, as it has been a well established fact among the Hogwart's population that Draco Malfoy was "not a morning person." Many a poor hapless student had learned long ago that even brushing into the sleeve of Draco's immaculately tailored robes before Draco had his morning tea could earn the innocent student a hex. Therefore, Draco had long ago established the ability to part the crowd like the Red Sea before 10:00 AM every morning.  
  
Today, however, one student was not paying attention to where Draco Malfoy was shuffling down the hallway, as she had her freckled nose burrowed in a red date planner. Therefore, it came as no surprise to the students in the hallway when Draco brushed past the girl in his single minded determination to make it to the cafeteria. The petite girl looked up from her book, and glared at the blonde haired boy as he headed past without apology. Everyone in the hallway held their breathe in anticipation of what would happen next. "Hey, Malfoy" Ginny snarled at Draco's back. Draco slowly turned around to see who dared to talk to him before he had his morning tea. Draco knew, however, who that voice belonged to. It was the voice he heard in his dre.... uh... nightmares.  
  
"Hey, Weasley." Draco replied as he looked at the girl. He couldn't stop the thought about how good she looked, even first thing in the morning. Draco was actually getting very tired of trying to stop the inappropriate thoughts (and drea..... uh...nightmares) he kept having about the girl. He kept reminding himself that this was a Weasley, and a Harry Potter fangirl, but somehow, these thoughts kept being overshadowed by the "other" thoughts he kept having. Like about how much he liked her smile, and how much he admired her spirit and courage, and how the lights reflected of her red hair, making in glint with so many shades of red, and like how cute the freckles were, marching merrily across her button nose............. Draco stopped himself in his wandering thoughts and glared at the object of his thoughts.  
  
Ginny was watching Draco, as he looked at her. She heard his words as if they came from a distance, as she become mesmerized by his the different shades of gray and silver in Draco's fascinating eyes. She watched as he eyes got a almost dreamy expression, as he just looked at her for a few moments after he spoke. All of the sudden, Draco began to glare at her again. Ginny glared right back at the rude boy.  
  
"Let me give you a lesson in manners, Malfoy, since it's obvious that your mother never bothered to teach you any." Ginny stated as she glared the blonde boy down. At the mention of "mother" Draco began to glare even more at Ginny and his clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles began to turn white.  
  
"Oh, my mother taught me manners." Draco said with a smirk. "She just told me not to bother using them on muggle loving trash like you." He stated, and was satisfied to see Ginny's face turn red with anger.  
  
Ginny shook her head and counted to 10 quietly to herself. She then said, in a calm voice "I don't know why I bother talking to you, Malfoy. It's obvious that you'll never be anything more that a bullying git, who nobody will ever really like, let alone love. I feel sorry for you, in a way Malfoy. You don't have to be the way you are. You choose to be that way." Ginny said, as she turned and walked away.  
  
Draco stared at Ginny's back as she walked away. And something in what she said seemed to bounce through his head, as he thought for a moment.  
  
A collective breath of air was let out as the student's in the hallway as they watched Malfoy pause for a moment to stare at the retreating redhead's back. A few of the smarter ones reached for their wands, in expectation of stopping whatever hex Malfoy was planning for the retreating redhead. But, instead, Malfoy turned and walked toward the breakfast room, with an almost, well, thoughtful look on his face.  
  
Several hours later  
  
Ginny Weasly stood by the pheonix statue, waiting patiently for Dumbledore to come and let her in to perform her latest detention duty. It was 6:00 on the dot, and neither Draco nor Dumbledor were anywhere in sight. Suddenly, the pheonix statue began to move, and Ginny jumped, as the movement had scared her. Ginny watched as the statue opened up to reveal a disheveled Dumbledore.  
  
"Ah.... Miss Weasley. Right on time, I see." "Let's see, where is Mr. Malfoy, this fine evening?" Dumbledore asked, with a kind smile.  
  
"I don't know, Professor Dumbledore." Ginny said, as she smile back at him.  
  
"I expect he will be here soon." Dumbledore said. "We'll wait for him to arrive before heading up."  
  
These words were barely out of Dumbledore's mouth, when Draco came strolling around the corner. Draco looked at Ginny, and quickly looked away, before giving his best "I am a suck-up" smile to Professor Dumbledore.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, Professor Dumbledore." Draco said, with just the right amount of fake apology in his tone.  
  
"That's quite alright, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said, with another kind smile. "Let's head up to get you two started." He said, as he proceeded to lead Ginny and Draco up the stairs.  
  
It has often been said that Albus Dumbledore is very shrewd, and is able to make almost uncanny observations. Albus himself preferred to think of it as being very observant of the people around him. And Dumbledore happened to observe some very odd behavior from his two warring students on the way up the stairs, and in their solitary and quiet cleaning work.  
  
He noticed that Draco Malfoy, only son and heir to one of the biggest Deatheaters ever to attend Hogwarts, seemed to ignore Ginny Weasley, only daughter to 2 of the greatest living members of the Order, but only when Ginny happened to be paying attention. When the girl wasn't paying attention, Draco was watching her every move with a fascinated look on his face. And the girl wasn't any better. When she thought Draco wasn't looking, she was glancing at him with admiring eyes, and a shy smile on her face. As Albus Dumbledore watched his two students, he became more and more amused by his observations.  
  
Ginny happened to be busy cleaning the portrait of some woman she knew she should know the name of because she was a former headmaster of the school and did really important things, but of course, she didn't know the name, when she heard laughter. She looked over, and saw Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his chair, and laughing as he looked from her, to Draco, and back again. Ginny looked at Draco, and saw him giving her an equally perplexed look.  
  
Professor Dumbledore looked at his two students, and stopped laughing. "You may start packing up the cleaning things to put away." He said to the two students, and watched as they quietly, and without giving each other direct eye contact, packed the cleaning materials and put them away. He sucked on a lemon drop as he waited for them to come stand before him, awaiting his new orders.  
  
"Miss Weasley... Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said. "I have decided to change your detention. For the rest of the time, you will spend detention together, helping each other with classwork and homework." Dumbledore said, with a smile. He saw the horrified looks on the two students faces, and could barely suppress the laughter in his voice. "Am I understood?" He asked, with a stern look from behind his half moon glasses.  
  
"Yes, sir" the two students said, with disgruntled looks on their faces.  
  
"You may now go." Dumbledore said. "Lemon drop before you go?" He asked before the students turned around to leave.  
  
"No thank you." The two students said in unison, as they turned around to leave. As they left the room, an echo of an old man's laughter followed them out.  
  
"What's with him, I wonder?" Ginny asked, temporarily forgetting that she was with Malfoy, as she asked a question she would ask anyone else in the same situation as she was right now.  
  
"I don't know." Malfoy said, with a confused look on his face.  
  
"Well, he sure found something funny." Ginny said, with a grimace. "I wish he had let me in on the joke." She said. "I feel like he was looking at US and laughing."  
  
"Well, maybe he overdosed on sugar again, or something." Malfoy said, with a small smile.  
  
Ginny looked at Draco, and shook her head. "Anything's possible, I guess." Ginny said, with a laugh.  
  
Fate watched from far above. Things were going just as planned, although maybe a little faster than planned, thanks to an intelligent old man giving her a helping hand. Fate was happy with how things were going..... It wouldn't be long now.... It all depended on how much the little fish were going to fight Fate's hook..... 


	8. Reminiscences and Revelations

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never claimed to.... All belong to J.K. Rowling.  
  
a/n: Thanks to all who are reading this story. Thank you for all the great reviews.  
  
Chapter 8 "Characterization and Plot Devices" The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
HIDDEN ROOM DEEP IN THE DUNGEONS OF HOGWARTS  
  
Draco Malfoy was deep in thought. Now, this didn't happen all that often, as Draco tended to be a more act first and don't think about your actions type of person (this came in the territory of being a bully, you see, for if a bully ever truly thought about their actions, would they really do it?). But, anyway, Draco Malfoy was "Thinking". Not the type of thinking done for homework assignments or class projects - Draco possessed a very shrewd mind and for him those kinds of things did not take a whole lot of actual thought time - no, Draco was thinking about life.  
  
More specifically, his life. Following his confrontation with Ginny the other morning, Draco had discovered himself spending more and more time thinking about what Ginny had said to him. "You don't have to be the way you are. You choose to be that way." Those words had stuck in his head, and kept popping up in his thoughts.  
  
As with all times when you don't have the last word, the replies to her comment kept spinning through his head. Draco kept thinking, I should have told her this, or I should have told her that, but in the end he knew it was too late. And to tell the truth, his heart wasn't truly into any of those possible replies. Because, deep down inside himself, in a place he never had an occasion to look too often in the past, a little voice(was it his conscience? He really didn't know) kept telling him, "she's right, you know."  
  
But Draco didn't truly think the voice or Ginny was right. People liked him. He wasn't a BULLY, he was just powerful. Someone would love him, his parents did, didn't they? And he didn't choose to be this way, he was only being the way his father wanted him to be. Because his father loved him, didn't he? Because his father only wanted what was best for him, certainly? Because his father loved him, didn't he? But that little voice deep down inside wouldn't let itself be buried anymore. It kept him thinking, and contemplating things he would rather not remember....  
  
DRACO'S SECOND YEAR AT HOGWARTS  
  
Draco was watching Harry, trying to dodge the bludger which almost certainly appeared to be going nuts, and started to snicker. Draco himself was sitting on his brand new Nimbus 2001, which his father had bought for everyone on his team "to ensure Slytherin be holding the Quiddith Cup, with his only 'dear son', who happened to be a 'spectacular' seeker and was, with his 'pure' blood certainly better than that silly Potter boy." How he knew how good of a seeker his son was, Draco never knew, for his father had too many important business matters to spend much time with him, and Draco spent many a hour in his backyard, practicing Quidditch with Dobby and Dixie, the family's two house elves. But Draco was on his house team now, and his father's words of encouragement were still with him as he sat on his broom and watched Harry try to avoid the rogue bludger. "You better win, boy. Can't have those mudblood loving fools showing up a MALFOY, can we?" His father had told him, giving Draco the cold smile he had known all his life. Draco knew that he had to catch the snitch and lead his team to victory, or his father would be very disappointed. Draco tried not to disappoint his father, cause he knew that his father only became disappointed in him because he loved him (did he?). In his amusement, Draco completely missed the bit of gold that was buzzing in a blur right beside him, until Harry came barreling at him full speed. Needless to say, Draco tried his very best, and put up a valiant effort, but Harry, yet again, caught the snitch. Draco never forgot the unforgiving and cold look his father had on his face when he looked at Draco, and he never forgot how his father had yelled at him when they were alone afterward....  
  
PRESENT DAY  
  
But Draco knew his father only wanted what was best for him, didn't he? His father only yelled when Draco did something to disappoint him, but his father was only disappointed because he wanted the best for Draco, didn't he? But deep inside, that voice was growing stronger.... Has he ever said he loves you? No, but he does (doesn't he?)  
  
But Draco knew his mother loved him. His beautiful mother, with her beautiful blonde hair and silver eyes.... She spent a lot of time on beauty creams to make herself look younger, and a lot of time in front of the mirror, cataloging the effects of time that those creams and rinses and magic muds and miracle anti-age treatments can't erase. But on the rare occasions she talked to Draco, she would never yell at him. She would usually just ask him about how old he was, and what year he was in school. And she did stop his dad from sending him to Durmstang "Because it was too far away and what would people think if we sent out son somewhere so far away. They would think he did something wrong and was being banished or something... Bad gossip to have about us, especially if you want to make it to be Minister of Magic when old Fudge dies."  
  
His mother loved him, didn't she? But the voice wouldn't be quiet.... She'd trade you for a new miracle wrinkle removing cream, and you know it.... And lately she's begun to say you are her younger brother instead of her son......  
  
So this was the prevailing theme reverberating through Draco's head.... "My parents love me, don't they?" And the voice within him answering, was becoming louder and louder, and beginning to sound more and more like Ginny Weasley......  
  
GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM  
  
"No" said Ginny Weasley as she sat in the common room of her house, reading her Arithmancy book (why did she let Hermione talk her into taking this) "I haven't seen Ron." Ginny replied, as she looked up at emerald green eyes made larger by the thick glasses with the black frames sliding slowly off of a straight nose. "I saw Hermione in the library, so you might want to check there." Ginny said with a small smile and a pronounced roll of her eyes. Harry looked down at Ginny and laughed. "Yeah, they do seem to be following each other around lately." He said. "But the really funny thing is, they always end up fighting wherever they meet."  
  
Ginny just giggled a little at Harry's observation. It was the truth, however. It seemed to everyone who didn't know the pair that the just followed each other around to fight. To those who knew them as well as Harry and Ginny, however, it was a whole different story.  
  
"You know, I think more people are starting to figure out they have a thing for each other." Ginny said. "Now, if only they would just figure it out..." Ginny stated with a laugh.  
  
Harry laughed, and replied "Well, you know it's bad if even Malfoy noticed."  
  
"What!?" Said Ginny.  
  
"Yeah, the other day, he passed them in the hallway bickering and suggested they stop pretending they don't like each other, and get a room, and snog each other senseless, already." Harry said. "Or something to that effect. I think his language was a little cruder than that." Harry said, to an astonished Ginny.  
  
"I didn't think Malfoy was that observant." was all Ginny replied, and started to turn back to her book.  
  
But Harry wasn't going to have that. He really wasn't looking for Ron, he had in fact just been looking for an excuse to talk to Ginny. He had something he wanted to ask her, if he was brave enough to.  
  
"Uh, Ginny." He stuttered.  
  
Ginny looked up at Harry, and was surprised to see a slight blush on his high cheekbones. She suddenly knew that something was up.  
  
"Yes, Harry." She said with as kind of a smile as she could manage.  
  
It took Harry a few moments to start what he wanted to say, and when he did, it was all in a rush.  
  
"WillyougowithmetoHogsmeadethisweekend?" He said quickly, and all in one breath. Ginny just looked up at him, completely shocked.......  
  
And Fate watched, and held her breath... For the one thing fate could not control was human choice.............................................................. Coming up: Will our prince actually find a soul in all his soul searching? Will Ginny make the right choice? What will fate do if Ginny makes the wrong choice? What is the wrong choice? Find out next time, in Chapter 9....  
  
A/n..... I know, I'm evil... But this is the first cliffhanger I've put in.... I've restrained myself from using them all the time.... I promise, I'll update soon.... 


	9. Studying with the Enemy

I don't own characters, etc in this story, or really much of anything.... J.K. Rowling owns all characters and the multimillions of dollars that come from publishing the Harry Potter books.... Only borrowing for this story.... A/N: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews.... I really appreciate them a lot. And thank you ronslilprincess for pointing out my little boo-boo in chapter 2.... Very observant... I do reread my chapters at least once, but I'm not the greatest at proofreading my own stuff... So if anybody notices any errors like that, please let me know.... Thank you so much for reading and reviewing everyone!!!!!! :-) Anyway, in apology for my evil cliffhanger (the devil on my left shoulder made me do it!!!), I have updated again (it was that little angel on my right shoulder's idea).... Two updates in two days, it has to be a record for me... I promise to try to update as soon as I possibly can..... And onward to the story.....  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 9  
  
"Studying with the Enemy"  
  
It was 6:30 on a Thursday evening, and the library was crowded. Certainly more crowded than it ever is on an evening hour. Most students (if they are actually going to study) prefer to do their homework in the common room of their respective house. The students who hardly ever study (except for 12:30 the night before the test or paper was due) usually spent their time in more interesting places. But tonight, the library was filled with studiers and non-studiers alike, as the library was known throughout the school as the place to be from 6:00 - 8:00 every night. Because in the library, at a small table in a far corner, crowded in among some of the shelves of dusty books, was the "entertainment".  
  
Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy were blissfully unaware of their status as the show to watch among the Hogwarts' students. They spent most of their time in the library in a strange dance that neither one of them quite understood. They did not really talk to each other, but would occasionally ask each other for help on difficult homework questions with shy voices and averted eyes. The rest of the time was spent giving each other quick glances, then pretending to be absorbed in reading their books. And the whole time they spent in their dance, the student body watched, and waited for the inevitable fight that would occur....  
  
But it hadn't happened yet.... So quite a few of the students spent their every available evening in the library, hoping that IT would happen... But it didn't.... But they kept coming back, tortured by thoughts of "if I don't go, it will happen tonight, and I will miss it...." Needless to say, student grades on tests dramatically increased during the period of Draco and Ginny's studying detention, and Snape spent his free time during this period of time on the lookout for the student cheating ring he was convinced Harry Potter had established....  
  
This Thursday night, Ginny and Draco were again seated together at their table, pretending to study. Each one, however, was more focused on something else other than the book he or she was supposed to be reading.  
  
Draco was currently obsessed with Ginny's hair. It seemed to Draco that every night he had a new obsession. Just the previous study session, he had found himself counting the smattering of freckles on Ginny's cute nose.... But tonight, it was her hair. The way it glinted in the dim lights in the library... The shine of her hair as she flicked it out of her face... The way the one strand kept falling into her face despite her efforts at holding it back... The way he wanted to push that strand behind her ear, and nibble on her ear, and work his way from her ear, to her neck, before finally working his way up and capturing her cherry red lips with his own.....  
  
Ginny Weasley was currently fascinated by Draco's eyes... Such a beautiful color, they glinted grey and silver and so many other unnameable colors in between... They were silver when he focused his intent glare on someone or something, but they were currently a cloudy grey.... Ginny found herself wondering what shade his eyes would be, as his head would bend down to capture her mouth with his.....  
  
But she's a Weasley.... Draco thought.  
  
But he's a Malfoy... Ginny thought.  
  
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione and Ron were fighting.... Again... Harry was sitting, watching his two best friends with an amused smile on his handsome face. Ron's ears were turning redder and redder, and Hermione's cheeks were flushed red in anger... And Harry was amused, until they both turned to him, in unison... The glares they gave him wiped the smile off of his face in a hurry...  
  
"What do you think is so funny, Harry?" Hermione said, with a glare.  
  
"Yeah, Harry, what's so funny?" Ron also glared at Harry when he said this.  
  
"Nothing, guys." Harry said. "I was just wondering what you two were fighting about now." Harry stated, as he looked at his two best friends.  
  
"Quidditch" said Ron as Hermione said at the same time "House elves." Both looked at each other as they responded, then promptly began to argue about what they each had thought they were arguing about before.  
  
"I give up." Harry muttered, as he left the common room and his two idiot friends behind. He decided to go search for Ginny, as she was the only one who currently made sense in his mixed up world. As he headed toward the library, he thought of the conversation he had with her the other day....  
  
FLASHBACK "Uh, Ginny." He stuttered, as he looked down at the girl with a head of bright red hair that was almost as familiar to him as his own.  
  
Harry was nervous. He was about to do something he never dreamed he would ever do. But lately, this girl, the younger sister of his best friend, was on his mind more and more....  
  
"Yes, Harry." Ginny said, as she looked up from the book she was reading and focused her cinnamon brown eyes on his, and smiled at him.  
  
Harry was very nervous. This was his best friends sister, was the only thought that kept running through his head.  
  
He took a deep breath, and went for it....  
  
"WillyougowithmetoHogsmeadethisweekend?" He said as quickly as he could, on that one deep breath. And he saw the look on Ginny's face.  
  
Somehow, in all his imaginings, Harry never pictured Ginny with THAT look on her face. Sometimes, he pictured her giving him a bright smile, sometimes he imagined her giving him that worshipful look of days past and kissing him passionately, sometimes he pictured her hexing him like she had all those other boys, and sometimes he pictured her contempt, as she told him that he had missed his chance long ago, and told him to get lost.  
  
But Ginny was looking at him with an expression that was an odd mix of shock and pity...  
  
"Never mind" Harry had said, before Ginny could reply. "It was just a thought." He stated, as he started to back away.  
  
"Wait, Harry." Ginny said, and Harry stopped. "You meant as friends, right Harry?" Ginny said.  
  
"Yeah." Harry had mumbled as he looked down at his feet.  
  
"Because I promised myself that I would only be friends with guys for a while, Harry." Ginny said honestly. "After all those broken hearts, I need some alone time to recover." Ginny told him, with a sad sigh. "So, yes, Harry, I'll go with you. Because you're my friend. And I KNOW you need a helper if you have to play referee between Hermione and Ron again." she said, with a slight laugh and a sparkling smile.  
  
Harry had smiled at that, and said to Ginny "Yeah, the havoc those two caused at Zonko's last trip to Hogsmeade...."  
  
PRESENT DAY, HOGWARTS LIBRARY  
  
The students packed in the library waited, as they held their breath.... It was going to happen now... For Ginny Weasley had spilled her bottle of ink, and it had ran over the table, like a black serpent on a path that led directly to Draco Malfoy's lap, and puddled onto his immaculate new robes...  
  
"I'm sorry, Draco." Ginny said. Because Ginny truly was sorry. This may be her enemy, but she was still the type of girl who felt badly when she accidently hurt someone, no matter who it was. Ginny waited, anticipating Draco's comments on how her father would have to use his yearly salary to pay for his robe, or some other similar comment.... But none came.....  
  
Draco just looked at his lap, as the ink spread over his new robe, creating a humongous blob shape, and heard Ginny apologize. He was angry and upset, because this was the new robe his father had given him for his birthday, but, for the first time in his life, he made a choice on his own. He didn't reply with a cold smile and cutting remark, like his father would have done, like his father would have wanted him to.  
  
Draco looked at Ginny, and said "It's okay... I bet Snape knows a potion or two to clean it all up. Don't worry about it, okay?" He said to the worried girl.  
  
Ginny heard Draco's words, and saw Draco saying them, but she was still unable to process what he was saying. She kept waiting for him to change his mind... To yell at her, to tell her how stupid she was, to demand she pay for the robes then and there.... But, to Ginny's surprise, it never came.  
  
"Thank you." Ginny said, as she gave Draco a brilliant smile. As Draco looked at her, with her beautifully warm smile, he couldn't help thinking "it this is the reward I get, maybe I'll be nice more often."  
  
As it happened, Draco Malfoy wasn't the only one who saw Ginny's brilliant smile. And the other person who saw it, and saw who it was directed at was not happy. So, Harry went over to rescue Ginny.  
  
"Hi Gin." Harry said, as he headed over to the table. Harry of course ignored Malfoy. "Still studying with the enemy, I see?" Harry said, with a cold glance in Draco's general direction.  
  
"Hi, Harry. What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, giving Harry a friendly smile.  
  
"Just looking for you, Ginny." Harry said. During this exchange, neither Ginny or Harry noticed the glowering looks being directed at them from Ginny's study mate.  
  
"What's up, Harry?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Just wanted to see if you had time to go out to the Quidditch field with me, Gin." Harry said. At the use of the shortened version of her name, the silver glare focusing on Ginny and Harry turned the color of ice, as it focused on Harry. "Sorry, Harry, I have to help Draco. I spilled ink on him, you see." Ginny said.  
  
"Don't bother." Draco stated. "Go off with your boyfriend."  
  
Ginny didn't bother arguing that Harry wasn't her boyfriend (although she didn't understand why she felt the urge to.... This was Malfoy, for Merlin's sake...) She just looked at Draco, and saw the familiar penetrating coldness in his silver eyes, and knew that the small moment of humanity she had glimpsed in Draco was over.  
  
"Sure, then, Harry." She said. "I'm sorry again about the ink." She said to Draco, as she got up to leave. Draco just glared at her in response.  
  
As Ginny and Harry left the library, neither one noticed the angry silver eyes following their every move.  
  
And deep within Draco, that familiar feeling of jealousy he felt when he thought about Harry grew and grew..... Harry had parents who loved him so much they sacrificed their lives for him, friends who would do anything for him, surrogate parents like Hagrid and Dumbledore and the Weasleys who loved him like he was their own son, and now, the love of a red haired girl... The love of the girl, the special girl that Draco finally realized he has longed to have for himself... But Draco now knew he never would.....  
  
Fate watched, and wiped a tear from her eye. Draco wasn't supposed to give up so easily, especially when he finally realized he was in love Ginny. And Harry was not supposed to be so persistent in is pursuit of Ginny. This was not going as she had planned.... But fate was resilient, and always had a backup plan, and if ever there was a time for backup plan, it was now...  
  
Coming up: What is fate's back-up plan? And will Ginny and Draco survive it? And how will fate take care of Harry? Find out in Chapter 10, "Harry Potter Versus Fate" 


	10. Harry Potter Versus Fate

Disclaimer: What you recognize, J.K. Rowling owns....  
  
A/N: Thank you for all the great reviews.... Sorry about the cliffhangers.... They were necessary in the story though.... And Romm, I like your observation about it always being Harry Potter Versus Fate in your review... I do think it always seems to go that way. I think it's part of the hero complex he has going on.... So, anyway, onward to what you were waiting for, the answers to the last cliffhanger (or not.... [cue evil laughter and scary music]).  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Harry Potter Versus Fate  
  
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Harry Potter. It could be argued that he was the luckiest or the unluckiest boy in the whole wizarding world. Those on the side arguing that he was the luckiest, would often state his miraculous survival of Voldemort's death curse on that long ago day that marked the first defeat of the Dark Lord as evidence for their case. They would also argue that Harry's triumph over "He Who Must Not Be Named" in his attempts to rise again, his survival when the Dark Lord did rise again, using Harry as an instrument, and Harry's survival the numerous other times Voldemort tried to gain power, would make him the luckiest boy. Those on the other side of the fence, the more astute ones, realized that Harry was in fact very unlucky. He lost his parents as a child, he was forever being marked for death by Voldemort and his supporters, he had been marked since infancy as someone great and special, when all he wanted to be was a normal wizard boy. Draco Malfoy fell into the latter of these categories, but not for the reasons most believed. Draco had other reasons for thinking Harry to be the luckiest boy in the world.  
  
For Draco has always been jealous of what Harry had. All of the things that Harry had, and took for granted. Harry had an adoring group of fans among the wizarding world, a whole world that loved him since birth for merely surviving. Harry had the ability to make loyal and true friends at the drop of the hat - he had friends that would give their lives for him at any moment. (Meanwhile, Draco had "friends" who would probably eat him if there was ever a shortage of food at Hogwarts, and who would kill him on the very bidding of the Dark Lord.) Harry had a bunch of surrogate parents, who loved him as if he were their own, and who would always be there for him, no matter what. (Draco had parents who didn't even know he was there, unless it was to inquire about his age or to tell him how disappointed he was that his only son wasn't good enough to be a "Malfoy"). Most importantly, Harry had the love of a beautiful girl with spirit, courage, and passion, and kindness, who was everything that Draco ever wanted in a girl (if he had ever allowed himself to dare to dream of having someone to love, who would love him back - which he never had before realizing the extent of what he felt for Ginny.) To Draco, Harry was the luckiest git that ever lived, and Draco hated him more than ever before.  
  
Draco was currently spending the moment shadowing the objects of his all consuming love and hate around the tiny village of Hogsmeade. He had dragged along Crabbe and Goyle, and the two lugs were really too stupid to realize that they were following Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione around the tiny village. They apparently just thought Draco was being impatient, as usual, as he stood tapping his foot and glaring at Crabbe, while Crabbe paid for the items he was buying. Draco was impatient, because they were already losing Harry and Ginny.  
  
Ginny had not noticed her "shadow" that day, for she was too busy thinking. It had become apparent to her throughout the day that Harry thought he had developed a "thing" for her. It had actually become pretty obvious to her when he had tried to put his arm around her on the trip to the village. Ginny had quickly avoided his arm, but the discomfort she had felt with his attempt was a little surprising to her, as she was seriously considering starting a more than friendship relationship with Harry if he were to ask.  
  
But Ginny wasn't entirely sure what she wanted, and the constant pressure was causing her to have a really bad day. In addition to putting up with little "hints" from Ron, and knowing smiles from Hermione as they saw her and Harry spending the day together, she had already had to break up 3 fights between Ron and Hermione. What was really irritating about those fights was that Hermione and Ron were fighting about the silliest things.  
  
Currently, the foursome was in Zonko's browsing at the latest joke items, to see if they could give Fred and George any new ideas for their joke shop. They were only in the store for a few moments, when the fighting began for the fourth time that day.  
  
Hermione said, "I was talking to Susan Adams this morning, and she said that she heard a rumor that Snape was going to give us a pop potions quiz on Monday."  
  
Ron just looked at Hermione a moment before replying. "What are you worried about, you've probably already read the whole book..."  
  
Hermione had glared back at Ron. "Why are you always making fun of me?"  
  
"I'm not making fun of you." He defended himself. "You do have the book read up until the end, don't you?" He asked, with a smug smile on his face.  
  
"Yes, which is better than you. You probably haven't even opened the book yet." Hermione gave Ron the glare he had begun to refer to as the "Death Glare".  
  
Ron's face began to get red. "I did too."  
  
"Did not." yelled Hermione.  
  
And so it continued in that vain for a couple of minutes, until Ginny had finally gotten completely fed up with her brother and her friend.  
  
"Silencio" she stated, with her withdrawn wand pointing at Hermione and Ron. Blissful silence greeted the crowd at Zonko's. Hermione and Ron both glared, with hands covering their voiceless mouths, as Ginny and Harry quickly slipped away.  
  
"What is it about Zonko's?" Harry asked with a beleaguered sigh, after they had stepped out the door and headed on their way down the street.  
  
"I don't know. What is it about the hallways, the great hall, the kitchens, the prefects bathroom, the Griffindor common room, the library....." Ginny had stated with an exasperated look on her face. "I wish they would just get a room and snog each other senseless already."  
  
"Why don't we get a room and snog each other senseless?" Harry asked. " We could sure use it after putting up with those two." He said. He saw the slightly shocked look on Ginny's face, and quickly added, "Just kidding, Gin."  
  
In the shadows, not far from the two students, a lone person, having left his two sidekicks in Zonko's, was eavesdropping on the couple. When the boy had asked the girl to go somewhere and snog him, the boys knuckles had turned white as they gripped a mahogany colored wand in a pale, immaculately manicured hand. The grip relaxed slightly, as he saw the look on the girl's face at the boy's remark, and heard the boy's quickly uttered denial of seriousness in his request.  
  
A commotion on the street behind him caused the boy in the shadows to step back into the alley he was hiding in to better conceal himself. The boy and girl he was watching turned around to see the commotion, and saw the pair headed down the street.  
  
"Darn, they have their voices back." The girl whispered to the boy.  
  
"Well, at least they're not angry at each other anymore." Harry observed.  
  
"What did you guys think you were doing, cursing us like that then leaving us there?" Ron yelled.  
  
"Uh-oh, even his ears are red. That means he is REALLY ticked off." Ginny mumbled to Harry out of the side of her mouth.  
  
Hermione was slightly calmer in her addition to Ron's tirade. "That was a horrible thing to do to your friends." She stated, as she glared at Ginny and Harry.  
  
Ginny sighed, and spoke up. "WELL, someone had to shut you guys up. All you do anymore is fight. You were acting like children."  
  
Ron glared at his baby sister. He never was able to take criticism from her very well, and today was no exception. "If you want me to act like a child....." Ron said, and he pulled out his wand and said a hex  
  
At the same time, the boy in the shadow's whipped out his wand and pointed a hex at the red haired boy... As Ginny saw her brother begin to hex her, she grabbed her wand and aimed a hex at him.... Which at the same time, Hermione aimed a hex at Ginny, in an attempt to stop her from hexing Ron.....  
  
After the bolts of light from the wands had cleared, everyone looked at each other, expecting to see Ginny and Ron in some state of mid-hex...  
  
It wasn't until a couple of moments latter that Ron, Ginny, and Hermione turned to see Harry, laying on the ground, a messed up jumble of hexes.  
  
"But I aimed the jelly legs hex at YOU." Ron said to Ginny in surprise.  
  
"And I aimed the Bat Bogey hex at you, Ron. There is no possible way it could have hit Harry. Harry is beside me, and you are in front of me. " said Ginny.  
  
"Maybe it bounced off of Hermione's hex?" Ron suggested.  
  
"Well I sure didn't aim the Tarantallegra hex at HARRY." Hermione said.  
  
"Then how did it hit Harry?" asked Ginny.  
  
"I don't know." All three confused teenagers said simultaneously.  
  
There was a pause, as the three students observed their fallen companion. After a moment of examination, Hermione mumbled something to herself, and looked at Ginny and Ron.  
  
"And just who did the Serpensortia, anyway?" Hermione asked to the group.  
  
Everyone gave each other puzzled looks, and shrugged their shoulders.  
  
"Well, this is a freak accident of fate if I ever saw one." Was Ron's comment, as they used the levitation spell to carry the fallen Harry away.  
  
The boy in the shadows watched the group, and he was surprised at the outcome. He had aimed his Serpensortia curse at Ron, not at Harry. Interestingly enough, the particular jumble of curses had an interesting effect on the "Boy Who Lived". Jelly Legs normally left a person with legs like jelly, tarantallegra made a person dance uncontrollably, the bat bogey hex caused the person's face and body to be attacked by invisible bat creatures, and serpensortia caused a large snake to attack a person. When combined, the curses left the person in a snake-like form, unable to move, twitching on the ground as he was being attacked by the bogeys underneath the scales. Draco made a mental note that he would have to remember that curse.....  
  
LATER THAT DAY, IN GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM  
  
Ginny was waiting patiently for Harry to come back from Madame Pomfrey's, and as she waited, she sat and contemplated what she would say to Harry. As bad as it was for Harry, she was glad that she had the break from him that his treatment for the curses had given her. It had given her time to really think, before making a decision what she would do about her and Harry. As she sat, she heard the portrait door open, and saw a tall boy with messy dark hair enter the room, and smile at her.  
  
"Hi, Ginny." Harry said, and sat down next to her on the couch. Ginny sat and moved over on the couch as far away from as she could.  
  
"Harry, we have to talk." Ginny said. "Not to sound conceited or anything, but I think that you like me as more than a friend. If you don't, then I misread the whole thing, but I've been getting signs that you do."  
  
"I do." Harry said honestly. "You're my best friend's sister, we've known each other for years, and we get along well. And you are really pretty."  
  
"So, will you go out with me?" Harry asked, earnestly.  
  
"Harry, did you hear what you said?" Ginny asked. "You went over all your reasons for liking me, but none of them had anything to really do with ME."  
  
Harry looked at Ginny for a moment, and digested what she said.  
  
"But I really like you Ginny." Harry said.  
  
Ginny looked back at Harry, and shook her head sadly. "You don't like me in that kind of way, Harry. I'm glad I had this time this afternoon to really think, because I came to a lot of conclusions. If you had asked me out before now, I might have said yes, but after thinking about it, I know better. We're friends, Harry." Ginny said. Then she continued "I don't feel that way about you either. I'm your friend. Some friendships turn into romantic love, and that's good for them, but it's not in the cards for us. Because I don't feel any passion for you. I want what Ron and Hermione have, that kind of passion they have that causes them to fight one and other in an attempt to deny it.... That's what I want. And I'm willing to wait for it." Ginny finished her speech, and glanced at Harry.  
  
Harry had a sad look on his face, as he remained quiet, sitting beside Ginny. He didn't speak for a moment, as he avoided Ginny's sad brown eyes.  
  
"I would never hurt you, Ginny." Harry said, in a last attempt to convince her.  
  
"But you would never truly love ME Harry. You love the idea of me, your best friend's sister, pretty girl you've known your whole life, a member of a family you love very much. And you probably do love me. Heck, I love you. But it's not the right kind of love. I love you like a friend and brother, Harry. And you love me like a sister. That isn't what I want, and it probably really isn't what you really want either." Ginny said.  
  
There was silence for a few moments, as they sat there, side by side, with sad looks on their faces.  
  
Then Ginny looked at Harry with a sad smile. "Someday, you'll thank me for this, you know. You'll meet that girl who turns your world so upside down that you won't know whether to fight her or snog her...." Ginny said.  
  
Harry got a serious look on his face, and looked at Ginny again, before asking, "Just out of curiosity - if I had asked you when we were at Hogsmeade today to date me, like I was planning to before the whole hex thing- what would you have said?"  
  
"Honestly, I would have said yes. But that would have been a mistake. I'm glad I had more time to think about it, because everything I said is true. I want the kind of passion that Ron and Hermione have." She said.  
  
Harry looked at Ginny and smiled sadly. "Well if your only criteria for your prince charming is that you fight all the time with him, then I guess Malfoy is the only candidate in the running at the moment. You two fight like cats and dogs." Harry attempted to joke, with a false laugh.  
  
"Very funny" Ginny said sarcastically. "Are we friends? Is everything okay now?" Ginny asked, with an anxious look on her face.  
  
"Friends." Harry said, with a smile, as he got up to leave.  
  
Ginny was happy that the confrontation was over, and that Harry took it so well. But as she watched Harry leave, she started to think about what Harry had jokingly said about her and Malfoy. She quickly rejected the idea, --"he's a Malfoy" she thought-- but somewhere, hidden deep inside herself, she continued to contemplate the idea......  
  
Fate was watching, and smiling.... Poor, poor Harry... But drastic times call for drastic measures, and fate is not above arranging a freak accident or two to achieve her goals...  
  
Coming up: What will happen next? Will Draco admit his feelings to Ginny? Will Ginny ever admit her feelings to herself? And how much longer will Harry, Hermione, and Ron be in the dark about what the rest of the school knows? Find out in Chapter 11, "True Lies" 


	11. True Lies

Disclaimer: If you haven't figured out by now that I do not own anything of value or importance (such as the characters in this story)........  
  
A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I'm sorry about all the typo's and errors in the last chapter (I did read it after I was done, but it was at 1:00 last night, and I have to get up early ever weekday morning, so my brain was pretty fried when I was trying to proofread it) but, anyway, if you guys note, I uploaded the chapter again with all the errors I found fixed (in addition to fixing a couple of errors in a couple of other chapters that people pointed out to me.) As I've said before, I type REALLY fast, and I'm not a good proofreader of my ownstuff (I fill in the blanks in my head as I read it back without even realizing it..), so please forgive my little boo-boo's (I'm only human, after all)... but thank you to those who pointed out my little errors so I could fix them. Anyway, it's time for me to quit writing this silly author's note, and get busy writing the next chapter...  
  
Sorry about posting this chapter as being "Charming Cinderella" in my mini spoiler in Chapter 11... It was supposed to be, but for reasons of length and continuity, the original plot line of Chapter 11 has been split into 2 chapters... Chapter 11 is "True Lies"... And Chapter 12 is "Charming Cinderella."  
  
And last time, on the Least Likely Prince Charming, we had a freak hexing accident, a jealous prince, and another guy attempting to sweep Cinderella off her feet.....  
  
What will happen next? Find out now.....  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 11  
  
True Lies  
  
What is a rumor? Is it fact or fiction? Is it truth or lies? Many would say that a rumor is a little of both. For a rumor is almost always based in truth, but is converted, through spread and growth, into a lie. So, essentially, a rumor is a true lie....  
  
It has been said that nothing travels as fast as a rumor. It would be interesting to see, if a scientist were to study the spread of a rumor, what the speed would be. For in Hogwarts, it was guaranteed to be higher than the average speed of the spread of rumor anywhere else in the world. Magic offered so many unique ways for a rumor to spread (and of course, change.)  
  
Ronald Weasley was, at the moment, refusing to believe the current rumor circulating among the student body. In his mind and heart, he knew that this current rumor could not be true. It was completely impossible for this particular rumor to be true. It was utterly, undeniably, completely, and totally IMPOSSIBLE, he thought to himself as he stalked the hallways of the school.  
  
"My sister and Malfoy DO NOT have a thing for each other." Ron would exclaim, to any student who was brave enough to question him about the latest tidbit making the rounds. Ron knew the rumor could never be true. The whole idea was completely revolting for him to even think about it.  
  
Harry Potter was in the Gryffindor common room, when the first whisperings of the current rumor amusing the Hogwarts students first reached his ears. The idea was also revolting to Harry, as Draco was his sworn enemy and Ginny was the girl that he likes, but the thought wasn't as impossible to Harry as it was to Ron. It was, in fact, starting to make a little bit of freakishly absurd sense to Harry. And Harry became very worried, the more he thought about what his fellow students were saying. Because it could be true....  
  
Hermione Granger was more astute than her two best friends about the current rumor. Both of her best friends were admittedly intelligent, but they were very dense when it came to the school's rumor mill. Hermione had made it her business to follow it, as in her position as head girl, it was very useful in helping her to determine who the troublemakers were. Hermione had seen this rumor coming from a mile away. But Hermione truly believed, although it was not completely impossible that Draco and Ginny could be attracted to each other, it was highly unlikely. ("They fight all the time and tell anyone who will listen how much they HATE everything the other stands for.") Hermione thought to herself... Then Hermione's mouth dropped in shock as she finally made the connection between how she acts around Ron to hide her attraction to him and Draco and Ginny's constant battles....  
  
"Oh no...." Hermione mumbled, as she hurried off in search of her two best friends to discuss this latest development.....  
  
Meanwhile, as gossip was circling the hallways about them, Draco and Ginny were oblivious. They were, at the moment, stuck in their last enforced study session together, and were currently continuing the look, glance away, look, glance away dance that has been dominating their interactions in recent days.  
  
Draco was, at the moment, trying to think of something to say to Ginny. Unfortunately, being charming was something that Draco had never done before, and somehow he didn't think disparaging comments about her brothers and family, or about mudbloods and muggles, would go over to well with Ginny. So Draco sat in tortured silence, desperately trying to think of something nice to say to the object of his affections, as he lamented the fact that "nice" was not something he knew how to do.  
  
Draco had reached a decision the previous night, as he had sat alone in his room in the Slytherin tower, thinking about his parents, and his friends, and about who he wanted to try to be. Draco had decided he wanted to be someone that a girl like Ginny could fall in love with. Not like Potter - Draco could never be and would never want to be like Potter - but Draco did not want to be anything like his parents. And Draco had made another resolution, as he sat there. Draco resolved to try to win Ginny over - instead of just sitting back and taking the cowardly way out, and letting the hate and jealousy for Harry fester inside him as he had in days past...  
  
Draco was going to fight for what he wanted. And what he wanted more than anything, was for Ginny Weasley to smile at him like she did at everyone else. Her friendly, sparkling, fun-loving smile. She smiled at him once like that. Draco remember well the night they had detention with Dumbledore, and Ginny had smiled and laughed with him for that short moment, before both of them remembered who the other was....  
  
Ginny Weasley was currently pretending to study her Defense Against the Dark Arts Book, as she sat at the table with Draco Malfoy. Actually, she was trying to figure out a way to turn her book right side up without Draco noticing. As distracted as she was upon getting the book out of her backpack, she had placed it on the table upside down. But that wasn't the bad part. Following placing it on the table, Ginny did not even look at it, as she was too busy admiring the lines of Draco's profile, and a good fifteen minutes of pretend study had passed before Ginny had glanced down to see her book was upside down.  
  
Draco was still desperately trying to think of something to say to Ginny. In an act of extreme desperation, he said the first thing that came to mind.  
  
"Your book's upside down." He said, and promptly regretted it. (IDIOT........I was supposed to say something witty and interesting, and, well charming - NOT something stupid like that - he thought to himself.)  
  
Ginny looked at Draco, completely mortified that he had noticed. (Talk about embarrassing... How am I supposed to explain I was too busy admiring your bone structure and profile to actually READ the book - she thought to herself.)  
  
Ginny blushed slightly, as she avoided his eyes and mumbled "Thanks." and righted the book. She then proceeded to stare at the pages, with her cheeks still flushed crimson in embarrassment.  
  
Draco continued to berate himself for his lack of tact. How could he not know what to say to a girl? If it was a girl like Pansy or Millicent, he would be entertaining them with rude comments about fellow students and particularly Potter, Weasley, and Granger, but he knew that wouldn't work with Ginny. He couldn't think of anything at all that did not involve making fun of her family or her friends and their muggle loving beliefs. So Draco chose to remain silent again, as he watched his last chance to talk to Ginny slip away....  
  
As Ginny and Draco sat studying, both were too engrossed in attempting to ignore each other to notice the commotion of three students entering the library. The rest of the students in the library did, however, and someone slipped out the door to spread the word. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had arrived to save Ginny from Malfoy's evil clutches...  
  
"Ginny Weasley!" Ron practically shouted, until a warning glare from Hermione caused him to remember that they were in the library. Ginny looked up with a start, as a perplexed look crossed her pretty face. Draco just sat up straighter, and affected his best bored look and smirking face, as he saw the trio approaching him and Ginny.  
  
"Ron, Harry, Hermione..... What's up?" Ginny asked quietly, as the confused look on her face grew as she noticed the angry looks on the boys faces and the worried mothering look on Hermione's.  
  
"C'mon Ginny, we need to talk." was all Harry said to Ginny.  
  
(Oh, great - Draco thought - Harry must have figured out that I have a thing for Ginny and is going to play the overprotective, jealous boyfriend now.)  
  
Ginny was at a complete loss as too what the threesome wanted with her. The only thing she could figure out was that Harry had enlisted her brother and Hermione to his cause of convincing her to go out with him, and this thought caused the famous Weasley temper to flare.  
  
"Harry, I thought we talked about this yesterday. I tried to be nice but if I have to be mean for you to get the point...." Ginny said. Then she stood up and glared at him. She didn't notice the protective way Malfoy began to act as he began to figure out that this was some kind of lover's quarrel.....  
  
"I DO NOT WANT TO GO OUT WITH YOU." Ginny practically screamed at Harry.  
  
Draco was in shock when he heard that... He couldn't believe that Ginny had turned Harry down... And he felt hope flare to life in him as he realized Ginny wasn't in love with Potter...  
  
Harry flushed red, and felt his temper begin to rise at Ginny's completely unjustified verbal assault. So, he proceeded to confront her with what was really bothering him....  
  
"You don't want to go out with me, but you'll spend your time drooling over that cowardly deatheater there? It's all over the school, Ginny, about you and Malfoy..." Harry replied, with an angry gesture toward Draco to signify exactly who he meant.  
  
Hermione put her hand on Harry's shoulder, "Harry, that's enough. We don't even know if it is true. You know that rumors are lies a lot of the time." She said, in an attempt to diffuse the situation. But now Ginny was furious.  
  
"Who said I liked him?" She glared at her three accusers. "You know I HAVE to study with him for detention. I can't help what the kid's in school are saying."  
  
Draco was hurt by what Ginny said, even though he always knew it was the case. So he lashed back at her, the only way he knew how. "Why would I have anything to do with a poor as dirt, muggle-loving girl with the ugliest hair I've ever seen, if it wasn't because I would get kicked out of school if I DIDN'T? He remarked with a smirk and a cold look in his eyes. "I can't believe that this ridiculous detention has TAINTED my reputation." He stated, as he gave a disgusted look at Ginny.  
  
Ginny didn't know why she was suddenly hurt by what Draco said and the horrible way he was looking at her. Why should she feel hurt? It wasn't as if she liked him, was it? He was her enemy, wasn't he? But suddenly Ginny wasn't so sure about anything....  
  
"Malfoy, why don't you leave?" Ron suggested, with an angry look on his face.  
  
Draco glared at Ron, as he got up. Then he said, with a smirk "I'm NOT leaving because you asked me too.... I have to go repair the damage your stupid little sister has done to my reputation." He glared Harry, Hermione, and Ron one last time before stalking away. But Hermione could not help but observe the way he avoided looking at Ginny through his entire tirade, or the hurt look that quickly passed over Ginny's face before she hid it behind an angry mask.....  
  
"Now that Malfoy's gone, let's have our little talk." Ron said as he glared at Ginny, before plopping himself down in a chair. Hermione and Harry sat down also.  
  
Before anyone could say anything, Ginny stood up. "Talk about what, Ron? Don't you mean you lecture me while I pretend to listen?" Ginny stated.  
  
"Ginny, sit down." Ron said. "We have to talk about this stupid crush you have on Malfoy."  
  
Ginny glared down at Ron, who was still sitting. It was a nice feeling to actually be able to look down at one of her really tall and overbearing brothers.  
  
"Ron, even if I did have a crush on Malfoy, and that is not saying that I do, but what is it any of your or Harry's or Hermione's business?" She stated cooly.  
  
"We're just trying to protect you, Ginny. We don't want you to get hurt." Hermione said, diplomatically.  
  
Ron was more to the point is his reply. "Malfoy's a stupid, deatheater git, and you are an idiot if you feel anything but hate for him."  
  
"I'm not a child, and I'm not stupid. I can take care of myself. I will make up my own mind what to feel for a person, and it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS who or what I feel about anybody." Ginny stated.  
  
"But Ginny, this is Malfoy we are talking about." Harry said.  
  
"You know, I'm tired of you three always trying to save me from things. I made a mistake when I was 11, and now you guys have been trying to save me ever since. Didn't I hold my own against the Deatheaters in my fourth year? How about how I helped you guys last year? You're always trying to keep me out of your plots and intrigues because you think I need protected. And now you don't even trust me enough about who I choose to like. When are you going to learn I am not a fragile little doll that needs protected? I can make my own decisions and choices just fine, thank you." Ginny stated to Harry, Hermione, and Ron.  
  
"But Ginny..." Ron started, but Ginny, in her fury, interupted him  
  
"But, WHAT, Ron? What part of NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS do you not understand? You're in a library, so if you don't understand, LOOK IT UP! Ginny exclaimed furiously, as she slammed her books into her backpack, and stomped away, leaving a stunned trio behind her.  
  
"Well, that went well." Ron said sarcastically.  
  
"We don't know if the rumor is true or not." Hermione offered, hesitantly.  
  
"But you're the one who convinced ME it was true. Something about woman's intuition...." Ron said as he glared at Hermione.  
  
"It can't be true." Harry stated. "What would anyone ever see in Malfoy?"  
  
"Well, if you look past the whole slimy git thing, he is really cute. Great body, gorgeous eyes, handsome face..." Hermione said.  
  
Ron glared at Hermione. "And when did you notice all of this? Before or after he cursed Harry and called you an "ugly mudblood"?" he asked sarcastically.  
  
Harry also gave Hermione a disgusted look. "I could have done without you cataloging Malfoy's physical assets...."  
  
"I'm just saying, if he didn't open his mouth and talk, I could see how a girl could be interested in him." Hermione defended herself.  
  
Ron glared and opened his mouth, but Harry stopped him.  
  
"That's enough." Harry interrupted, with an impatient wave of his hand. "The question is, if Ginny does have a crush on Malfoy, what are we going to do about it?" he asked.  
  
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, as Ron sat there glowering into space. Neither replied for a few moments, as they thought.  
  
It was Hermione who broke the silence.  
  
"Nothing." she said.  
  
"What?" exclaimed both boys simulataneously with shocked looks. They were depending on Hermione for yet another brilliant plan.  
  
"You heard me. We are going to do NOTHING. It's like Ginny said. IF she does like Malfoy, it is none of our business." Hermione said.  
  
"We can't sit back and let her do something stupid...." Ron said, as Harry nodded his head in agreement.  
  
"Yes, we can. Because if we start chasing her around and try to keep her away from him - well, even if she doesn't like him, it would just send her running right towards him." Hermione stated to her two friends.  
  
"But it's Malfoy..." Harry protested.  
  
"Doesn't matter who it is.... If you forbid her from going within 50 feet of him, that's exactly where she'll want to be...." Hermione said wisely.  
  
"I don't get it..." Ron said, and glared at Hermione.  
  
"You wouldn't" she mumbled.  
  
Harry spoke before they could begin to fight again.  
  
"Ok, so, we'll just leave her alone about this, like Hermione says. But if something more comes of this....possible true rumor.... and we find out it is true, then we have to do something....." Harry said.  
  
Hermione sighed, and looked at her two best friends. This was the best compromise she could hope for...  
  
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was in his room. But he wasn't hiding away, licking his wounds... No, Draco Malfoy was doing one of the things he did best... Draco was plotting... And, as many of his Slytherin housemates knew, it was only people with a death wish who interrupted Draco Malfoy when he plotted.. But what he was plotting, none of his fellow Slytherin's would ever believe.....  
  
Fate was slightly upset... She watched Draco act like a perfect arse, and Ginny was still almost completely in the dark about her feelings... And it wasn't like she hadn't sent anything better for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to be doing, that they had time to nose around in Ginny's affairs.... Fate pounded her hands on the table in frustration... Whatever Draco was plotting had better be good, because fate was, quite frankly, running out of ideas to help the pair...  
  
Coming soon: Will the trio really be able to leave Ginny alone? What is Draco plotting? Will it help his cause or hurt it? And will fate be able to help? Find out in Chapter 12, "Charming Cinderella" 


	12. Charming Cinderella

Disclaimer: If you recognize it from the Harry Potter books, then I do not own it... J.K. Rowling does...  
  
A/N: Thanks for the reviews... This was originally supposed to be part of the plot line of chapter 11, but due to expansion, editing, and continuity, Chapter 11 became chapters 11 and 12. So this chapter will be "Charming Cinderella." But I guess the good news for everybody who likes this story.... Two chapters for the price of one!!! Anyway, I hope you enjoy both chapters... Reviews are greatly appreciated... Well, enough of my silly ramblings, it's time to move on to what you have been waiting for...  
  
What will happen next? Find out now.....  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Charming Cinderella  
  
It was following that day in the library, that Ginny Weasley began to receive the presents. It began the morning after, with a beautiful silver rose, lit by a magical inner glow. The present was delivered by school owl at breakfast the following morning. It came with an ivory envelope, with Ginny written on it in silver ink.  
  
Ginny pulled out the heavy ivory stationary out of the envelope, and read the letter that was enclosed:  
  
To Cinderella  
  
I have never tried to be charming before, But for you (and only you) I will give it a try. I'm not very good at saying or writing what I feel, so please forgive me if what I write sounds ackward. I hope you enjoy the rose. I bought it because it reminded me of you. It has an inner glow that reminds me of you when you smile.  
  
Yours always, Your Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Ginny had confronted Harry about the rose as soon as she saw him that morning. Harry denied knowing anything about the gift. And so the gifts continued to be sent to Ginny. They always came with a little note, complimenting something about Ginny, and were always addressed to Cinderella and signed "Your Least Likely Prince Charming" in the same masculine script.  
  
Ginny spent the next two weeks trying to find out who was sending her the beautiful presents. She spent more time in her classes glancing at all the boy's writing to see if she could match it to her secret admirer. She got another detention with Snape for cheating, when he observed her trying to see Andrew McDougal's writing in Potions class. Ginny began to believe that Harry was doing it, and using some kind of spell to disguise his handwriting. To Ginny, Harry was the only logical suspect, as he was the only guy in school to ask her out in recent days.  
  
It was after two weeks of the constant gifts and letters that Ginny received the slipper. It was beautiful, an ornate shoe made of clear crystal, which sparkled like a prism in the light. Ginny was enchanted by the beautiful gift. She pulled the expensive ivory stationary out of the envelope and read the flowing script, which said:  
  
To Cinderella:  
  
I know that I am not worthy of you, but I wish for you to know me by my true name. If you wish to know me, the true me, please come to the astronomy tower at midnight. I will meet you there, my dear Ginny, with a matching slipper. Please come and meet me, and remember, things (and people) are not always what they seem, and even the least likeliest of princes deserves a fair chance.  
  
Yours forever, Your Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Ginny of course, went to the tower, thinking that she would again have to discourage Harry from his latest attempt at pursuit. But, as Ginny waited in the tower holding the slipper in her hand, she was completely shocked at who came out of the shadows, carrying a matching crystal slipper in his pale hands.  
  
Draco was more nervous than he had ever been in his life, as he carried the matching slipper out. He knew that the whole secret admirer thing was the stupidest idea he had ever come up with, but as Ginny would not even look at him after the incident in the library, he had to do something. So, he sent her gifts and letters professing his admiration of her spirit, and kindness, and beauty, in the hopes that, in this moment of revelation, she would forget about the way he had acted in the past, and give him a chance to do better in the future. He saw the shocked look on her face as she saw him, and stood still, waiting.  
  
"Draco Malfoy?" She whispered, as if unable to believe her eyes. "You sent me the gifts?" She asked, a little louder.  
  
"Yes." Was all he could reply, as he again found himself at a loss for words that had come so eloquently when he had a quill and was writing on a piece of parchment.  
  
"Why?" Ginny asked, as she looked at the handsome boy, unable to believe he was the one who had sent the letters.  
  
Then realization hit Ginny, and she was incredibly hurt by what she thought was the truth.  
  
"This is a joke, right? I can't believe you would go to all this trouble for a joke." She said.  
  
Draco looked at her for a moment, at a loss for words. If only his brain was actually attached to his tongue when he was around Ginny - he thought to himself.  
  
Before he could get a word in, Ginny continued.  
  
"I bet you and your Slytherin buddies think this his SO funny... Lure the Weasley girl up her with a secret admirer gag... Then you walk out of the shadows and pretend you like me... I guess that would be a great way to salvage your "tainted reputation." Ginny yelled at Draco, and against her will, began to cry.  
  
Draco saw the tears, and didn't know what to do. "Ginny, I DO like you." He said, honestly, and began to move closer to the crying girl.  
  
Ginny glared at Draco through the tears, and forced herself to stop crying. "Don't come any closer to me, Malfoy." she said as she got out her wand and pointed it at him. She proceeded to glance warily in the shadows behind Draco.  
  
"So, where's your friends?" Ginny asked as she turned her angry brown gaze back to Draco, satisfied that no one was in the shadows waiting to jump her, or to come out and laugh at her humiliation.  
  
"What 'friends'?" Draco replied honestly. "Didn't you or one of your friends tell me one time that I didn't have any? Whoever said it was right, you know."  
  
Ginny just stared at Draco, with her drawn wand still clenched in her hand.  
  
"Why did you lure me up here Malfoy, with that secret admirer stuff?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Because I admire you?" Draco asked, slightly sarcastic. He hadn't expected, in his plotting and planning, that Ginny would be so disbelieving and, well, dense....  
  
"Yeah, right Malfoy. And Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood are going to get married someday...." Ginny said, very sarcastically.  
  
"Anything could happen, Weasley. Like me, Draco Malfoy, falling for a Weasley..." Draco said. "I am serious, you know. I really do admire you, and want to get to know you better." he said, with a smile.  
  
The entire time, Ginny had been slowly inching her way toward the door. "Hah...." Ginny said. "You're good, Draco, I'll give you that. But I'm not an idiot you know...." Ginny said, as she slipped out the door. "And don't expect any of your gifts back, either." She yelled, as she hurried away.  
  
Draco just stood there, as she left. He debated on whether or not to follow her for a moment, but quickly decided against it.  
  
"Well, so much for charming Cinderella, Draco." He said to himself, as he sat down on a bench. "How can I charm a girl if she doesn't even believe I'm serious?" he asked the emptiness of the room.  
  
Fate was listening, and wished she could answer the question for him. But she couldn't... Ginny was proving to be much more stubborn than fate originally planned... And Draco was having a much more difficult time being charming than she had originally thought.... Fate didn't know what to do, but she knew now was the time for her to intervene.... And, as a plan came to her, she smirked in true Draco fashion.....  
  
Coming up: How will fate manage to fix this? With a little help of course.... What's a Cinderella fairy tale without a fairy godmother, anyway? Stay tuned for Chapter 13 - The Least Likely Fairy Godmother 


	13. The Least Likely Fairy Godfather

Disclaimer: Don't own it, yada, yada, yada.....  
  
A/N: Thanks for the reviews.... They are greatly appreciated. To all my loyal readers, THANK YOU!!! When I first started writing this, I was really nervous about posting it and stuff, but most of the reviews you guys give me keep me going... Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!!!! Anyway, I'm sorry about my attempts at love notes in the last chapter... I'm not a poet, so I guess Draco isn't either.... Anyway, Enough about me, lets see what Fate has in store for Draco and Ginny!!!  
  
Last time, we had secret admirers, Draco/Ginny angst, and fate devising yet another plan....  
  
So, what will happen next? If this a Cinderella story, don't you think it is time for the fairy godmother to show up? Who will the fairy godmother be, and will she (or he) help or hurt our fair couple's budding romance?  
  
Find out now.....  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 13  
  
The Least Likely Fairy Godmother  
  
Ginny Weasley sat on her bed, and contemplated the box in front of her. Like any other girl, Ginny had a box of "keepsakes" given to her by her numerous ex-boyfriends. When the relationship ended, the things she could not bear to look at, but could not let herself throw away, were all shoved into this one box, and hidden in the dark corner of her trunk, only to be taken out and shoved in that dark corner far underneath her bed when as she unpacked.  
  
Ginny was about to add more items to the box, and she didn't know why..... Why couldn't she make herself throw away the letters or the note that the prat, Draco Malfoy had sent her as a sick kind of joke? And why did she feel so excited by the foolish thought of him liking her, that thought that had crossed her mind before she realized the truth of the secret admirer gag... And why did she still feel so incredibly hurt by it, when she knew that it was just Draco being Draco....  
  
Truthfully, Ginny didn't quite know the answers to any of these questions, and that scared her... A lot.... Because the only thing that all of this added up to, was the one thing that could NOT be true.... could it? Could Ginny Weasley have a crush on Draco MALFOY?  
  
Meanwhile, as Ginny sat realizing some things that she really did not want to, Hermione was on her way to visit her wayward friend. For you see, Hermione had lied to her two best friends when she said she didn't think that Ginny and Draco liked each other. Because Hermione knew her two best friends, and she knew if she had clued them into the strange behavior she had observed that day in the library, and what it most likely meant..... Well, needless to say, Ginny would spend her days locked in her room, and Ron and Harry would have been expelled or in prison for killing Malfoy..... So, Hermione had kept her mouth shut and encouraged to boys to leave Ginny alone, so that Hermione herself could attempt to reason with Ginny, and talk her out of whatever unwilling attraction she may be feeling for Malfoy.  
  
These were Hermione's thoughts as she searched for Ginny. Hermione spent a little bit of time searching, and, as always, it was the last place she looked that she found Ginny. Ginny was alone in her room when she found her.  
  
"Ginny, can we talk?" Hermione asked, hesitantly as she observed the girl reading a letter as she sat on her bed.  
  
Ginny jumped when she heard Hermione's voice, and quickly hid the letter she was reading in the nearest place she could find, which happened to be one of her school books.  
  
"Sure, Hermione." Ginny said, and smiled nervously at her friend.  
  
Hermione was curious about the letter Ginny was reading, but didn't mention it, as it was obvious Ginny didn't want to talk about it. And Hermione had more important things to talk to Ginny about....  
  
"Ginny, I know you told us to stay out of it, but I wanted to ask you what is going on between you and Malfoy again, without Harry and your brother around to "help". Do you have a crush on Malfoy?" Hermione asked, and observed Ginny's reaction. What she saw was a slight blush of embarrassment, and a girl who was avoiding looking her in the eye as she answered.  
  
"Yes." Was all Ginny said, as she avoided looking in Hermione's eyes, and felt the slight blush, which was the curse of her redhead complexion, stain her cheeks.  
  
"Ginny!!! You can't like Draco Malfoy!! Think about what he has done and said to us. His father is in Azkaban for trying to kill us. His family Voldemort's most loyal supporters!!" Hermione started her tirade, but was interrupted by Ginny as soon as she took a breath.  
  
"Hermione, you aren't telling me anything I don't already know. But just let it alone! I know that I shouldn't have a crush on him. I know all the reasons why. And it's not like he would ever return my feelings anyway, so why don't you just let me work through this on my own?" Ginny said calmly.  
  
"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Hermione asked, quietly.  
  
"Yes, I have." Ginny said. "To me, he's like candy. Something you know you shouldn't have but something you crave. But I can stop myself from eating a lot of candy, and I'll stop myself from feeling this way about Draco Malfoy." Ginny said, stubbornly.  
  
"Ok, Ginny. But do me a favor. Stay away from the temptation. He may not be as indifferent to you as you would like to think. And I don't want you to get hurt." Hermione said.  
  
"Yeah, right Hermione. If you think he might have a crush on me, it was all part of his little "joke"." Ginny said.  
  
"What joke?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Never mind." Ginny said with a sigh. "I have to go to Potions class, now, and it's too long of a story to explain right now."  
  
"Well, tell me about it later." Hermione said, and resolved to find Ginny later and make her tell about the "joke", whatever it was.  
  
"Ok." Ginny said with no intention of doing so, as she grabbed her books and put them in her backpack.  
  
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was doing his prefect duties. He was walking through the hallways, as he was supposed to be the hall monitor for this time of day. In the old days, Draco would have entertained himself by writing up as many of the students from other houses as he could. But now.... Well now the professors were lucky if he wrote up one person.  
  
Severus Snape was observing his favorite student going through the hallway, and walking past quite a few blatant rule violations by the other students, and knew something was wrong. So, he decided to do something he rarely did for any student, except for a few select ones in the Slytherin House. He decided to find out what was wrong, and see if he could help.  
  
"Malfoy!" He said loudly, and waited patiently for the student to stop and acknowledge him. But Draco didn't even pause in his slow, trudging step.  
  
"Draco Malfoy!" Snape called more loudly.  
  
As if from a distance, Draco heard someone calling his name, but he kept walking through the hallway, in no mood to talk to anyone. Then he heard his name, said more loudly, and recognized the irritated tone as Professor Snape's. He stopped and turned around slowly.  
  
"Yes, Professor Snape." He said, as he face his professor.  
  
"Come with me Malfoy. We need to have a discussion about your prefect duties." Snape said, quietly.  
  
Snape led Malfoy to his office, which was located in the back of the potions classroom. He sat behind his desk, and motioned for Malfoy to sit in the chair across from him.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, it has come to my attention that you have lost that special talent you had in the past for your prefect duties. I was wondering if you would care to explain why, instead of being the prefect with the most write- ups like you used to be, you have the least write-ups, next the Weasley, who of course should have never been made a prefect in the first place." Snape said, with a sneer in his voice as he mentioned Ron.  
  
"I don't know why, Professor." Malfoy said, quietly.  
  
At this point, a disruption was heard in the classroom outside as the sixth years started to wander in and find their seats.  
  
"Draco, I have a class to teach now, but I will find you later, and you had better give me a good reason why." Snape said as he dismissed him.  
  
Snape gathered his notes, and quickly headed out to the classroom. "Can't let those students alone for a second, or they'll tear the place apart." He thought to himself.  
  
As he walked out, he observed something rather odd. Draco Malfoy was leaving the classroom, as that youngest Weasley girl was entering, and they had accidently run into each other. This sight would have been normal enough, given the string of unfortunate accidents the two had been having lately. But what was odd was the two students reactions. Draco Malfoy looked at the girl with a very strange look on his face, which if Snape didn't know better, would have thought it was a look of longing! And Draco Malfoy mumbled an APOLOGY as he quickly headed out the door. And the girl's reaction was just as strange. She BLUSHED!! And she avoided looking at Draco, to the extent of it being very obvious that she was avoiding looking at him. A sneaking suspicion about what the problem his student was having entered his head....  
  
Ginny was gathering up her books after potions class when she heard her name called from the front of the room by the professor.  
  
"Ginny Weasley, come to my office with me, please." He said.  
  
A couple of her friends looked at her nervously, and gave her reassuring smiles. Everyone knew she had done nothing wrong in class today. "Harry and Ron probably ticked him off, and he's going to take it out on me" Ginny thought to herself, as she headed back to the Potions Master's office.  
  
"Have as seat, Miss Weasley." Snape said, and gestured for her to sit.  
  
Ginny was quiet as she sat down, and looked at the professor expectantly.  
  
"Miss Weasley, I would like to know what you have done to Mr. Malfoy." Snape said. "What do you mean, what I have done to HIM?" Ginny retorted.  
  
"Well, Miss Weasley, I can only conclude that his recent behavior change is due to something you had done to him. Mixing love potions, were you? I must admit it would be the perfect revenge for you to do to him for whatever imagined slights you and your "friends" may feel he has given you." Snape said, in his oiliest voice.  
  
"Professor Snape, I'll have you know that if anybody was trying that trick, it would be MALFOY! He's the one sending "love letters" to try to trick me." Ginny spat out, indignantly.  
  
"Well, Miss Weasley, love potions have a serious affect like that. A person under the influence of one will send the person who made it love letters." Snape said, snidely.  
  
Ginny was getting furious. This was ridiculous! To accuse her of toying with Malfoy's feelings!!! But what if Malfoy was serious when he sent the love letters and stuff? Wouldn't she have been toying with his feelings when she told him off like she did? Suddenly, the more she thought about it, Ginny wasn't quite sure what happened in the Astronomy tower....  
  
"You do know that making love potions has serious consequences at this school?" Snape said to the girl.  
  
"I wasn't making any love potions. If you really want to know, PROFESSOR, Malfoy started sending me secret admirer letters. Only I didn't know it was him. After a whole bunch of these beautiful letters and gifts, the "Secret Admirer" wanted to meet me in the astronomy tower. See, here's that letter." Ginny said as she grabbed it out of her book, where she had placed it earlier in an attempt to hide it from Hermione's prying eyes.  
  
Snape read the letter she handed to him, as Ginny continued the story.  
  
"Anyway, I got to the tower, thinking it was probably Harry's last ditch attempt to get me to think of him as more than a friend, and completely expecting to have to turn him down again. But who would show up, with the other glass slipper, but Draco, in some attempt at a joke. So if anyone was playing with feelings, it was Draco playing with MINE." Ginny stated.  
  
Snape hid a smile behind his stern look. Weasley's were so easy to prod into giving out the whole story... That Weasley temper was so easy to set off.... But Snape didn't bat an eye as he continued to ream out the Weasley girl. After all, you sometimes had to help out it the sneakiest of ways... Especially when telling her the truth wouldn't work out as well as making her realize it on her own.  
  
"So, you're saying Draco and some of his friends were in the tower, laughing at you?" Snape asked, quietly.  
  
"Well.... No." Ginny said with a thoughtful look on her face.  
  
"And Draco told all the school about how he tricked you up there, afterward?" Snape asked, with a sneer.  
  
"Well.... No...." Ginny mumbled again.  
  
"And Draco plagued you ever since that day, with snide remarks and comments about your gullibility?" Snape questioned again.  
  
"Well... No, he's been avoiding looking at me ever since...." Ginny whispered....  
  
"And why should you care about it anyway? It's not as if Draco is someone YOU could like..." Snape said sarcastically.  
  
The confusion on Ginny's face cleared, as she looked up at Snape with a breathtaking smile.  
  
"You know, Snape, if I ever write a book about this, you'll be the fairy godfather...." Ginny said, as she jumped up, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, ignoring the strange look on his face as she left the room.  
  
Snape shook his head, after the girl ran out. Must be something about those red heads, that melts even the iciest of hearts, he thought, as he reminisced about the red head he had loved, but had never had a real chance with because of his own stupidity and her great love for someone else, and how just loving her had changed him and his destiny.....  
  
Fate smiled as she watched Snape reminiscence about the girl he loved.... It was never his fate to have her, as fate had had far different, greater plans for her... But fate knew that his ill fated love would cause him to want to help someone else like him, and he did try to help..... Now Fate was waiting anxiously to see if her fairy godfather's interference worked.....  
  
Coming up: Where was Ginny going in such a hurry? Did our fairy godfather's plan work? We'll all just have to wait and see what happens next in Chapter 14 "Ten Ways to Charm a Prince."  
  
A/N: The whole Snape thing (about the red haired girl he had loved) was based on the premise of what I believe will be revealed in future Harry Potter books.... I believe that in Harry's parent's later school years, that Snape had fallen in love with Lily, and that is another reason he hates Harry and his father so much..... And when he found out that Voldemort was going to kill Lily and James, is when he turned to be a spy for Dumbledore.... But that's all my speculation, and it probably won't happen, but that's just always the way I have pictured Snape in my characterizations of him..... Plus, in this story, it helps the plot because it gives him a reason to try to help Draco get the girl (you know, trying to help his favorite student get the girl, not repeat the mistakes he made in the past, etc...) I do believe that Snape sees a lot of himself in Draco, thus the whole favorite student thing.... 


	14. Ten Ways to Charm a Prince

Disclaimer: If I owned any of this, would I really have time to write fanfiction.... I mean, c'mon... If I owned Harry Potter and company, I wouldn't be writing this, I would be working on book 6.....  
  
A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews... Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Sorry about the long wait between recent posts... I've had a bad case of the flu, in addition to a LOT of work to do.... Anyway, here's chapter 14!!!!  
  
The Least Likely Prince Charming  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Ten Ways to Charm a Prince  
  
If Ginny Weasley were to write a book about her last two weeks following her conversation with Snape, she had decided she would call it "Ten Ways to Charm a Prince." Because that was exactly how she had spent the last 2 weeks.  
  
The first attempt Ginny made to charm her prince happened immediately after the revelations she had made when being interrogated by Snape. She had kissed Snape on the cheek, and ran out of the room, heading off to find Draco, with no clear plan in mind. Well, if she was writing a book about it, this would be what she would have called her first attempt:  
  
Way number 1: Practically tackle said prince outside his classroom and ask him out in front of numerous students in his year, including his Slytherin friends and his worst enemies, which happen to coincidently be your overprotective older brother and his just as overprotective closest friends....  
  
Because that was exactly what Ginny had done. And of course, in hindsight it was all pretty clear that this way wouldn't work, but Ginny was always one to act impulsively.  
  
Ginny had hurried around the school, asking every student she happened to meet if they knew where Draco was this period. This, of course, caused a stir among the students, with most of the students thinking that Ginny was trying to avoid Draco's normal bout of Gryffindor torture. Finally, after the fifth random student she asked, a Hufflepuff girl told her exactly where to find him.  
  
"He has McGonigal's class at this time." she had said, slightly surprised when Ginny started hurrying TOWARDS McGonigal's class, instead of in the opposite direction, as she had expected. Ginny had stood in the hallway and waited impatiently for McGonigal's class to let out, then stood and said "hi" to those students she knew who filed out before Malfoy. And then Draco had come out the door......  
  
He had stopped briefly, as a shocked look had flitted across his face briefly, before being replaced by his standard bored look. And for once, Ginny had noticed one of those brief, millisecond looks that spoke of his true feelings... And Ginny had begun to see behind his "mask"....  
  
And Ginny stood right in front of him, blocking his and his friends' path, and took a deep breath, and said it....  
  
"Will you eat dinner with me tonight, Draco. I have something I want to talk to you about?" She said, very quickly in her nervousness.  
  
And Zambini and Crabbe, who were exiting the classroom with him, began to laugh hysterically... And the look on Draco's face had flitted from joy, to quickly turn to a heartbreaking mixture of an angry and hurt look, and then the mask slid back on into his customary smirk...  
  
"Nice try, Weasley." Was all he had said, with a smirk, and stalked away, leaving Ginny to briefly wonder what he was thinking... Briefly, because she was quickly pounced on by her brother and his friends.  
  
"Please tell me that was a joke..." Harry had mumbled.  
  
"It's none of your business!" Was all Ginny had said, and walked away.  
  
So that was Ginny's first attempt, which of course did not go well. But Ginny had learned a lesson from that fiasco - if the person you are trying to charm happens to be a mortal enemy of your family, ask him out in a private place, not in front of his friends and your family (a.k.a his mortal enemies)....  
  
Ginny had named the second attempt she had made this -  
  
Way number 2: If the first way doesn't work (which it is obvious to everyone with even a partial brain that it would not work) try this next. Send him a letter by owl post, asking him to meet you in the astronomy tower at a particular time.  
  
And Ginny had waited there for more than an hour, but Draco never showed up... But Ginny didn't give up yet.  
  
Her next attempt began when she thought to take a page from Draco's book. She named it this:  
  
Way number 3:  
  
Send him gifts and romantic notes from a secret admirer....  
  
Now, Ginny didn't have a lot of money, but she did have a hoard of homemade goodies her mom always sends... And she sent those to Draco for a couple of days along with little notes to him...  
  
And she had got everything back on the third day, with a note that said:  
  
"Please stop sending me this stuff and bothering me. It's pretty obvious you are trying to get back at me, and I'm not going to fall for it. - DM"  
  
This note had devastated Ginny, and she was about ready to give up, until she came up with a new idea... Which after the fact, she had called this:  
  
Way number 4: Stalk him, looking for a moment when he is alone so that you can talk to your prince in private..  
  
Now, when Ginny had started this plan, she had no idea how scary it really was that she was doing it... She just thought she would follow him around until she caught him alone...  
  
Ginny had stopped this following the next letter she received from Draco. It had said:  
  
"Quit FOLLOWING me around. There are laws against stalking, you know... - DM"  
  
After that, Ginny had taken a little break to pull her thoughts together. Then she had started her campaign again. The next thing she did, she liked to refer to as this:  
  
Way 5: If your prince is a prefect, conspire with your friends to get him somewhere alone, looking for the trouble makers....  
  
Luna had helped her with that one. They had spread a rumor that some Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students were playing strip poker in the Room of Requirement every Wednesday night, which happened to be his hall duty evening. Ginny had thought that the mere thought of all those rival house students to write up would cause him to drool... But she was wrong... Draco, whom she had heard from very excellent sources knew all about the strip poker party, had never showed...  
  
The next thing Ginny had done was one of the ones she felt was the stupidest yet.. She liked to call it this:  
  
Way 6: Dress in a way guaranteed to get a guy's attention, and flaunt your physical assets around said prince whenever possible (bend over with low cut robes, lots of make-up, etc.)..  
  
That one hadn't gone so well. Ron had started glaring at her continually, making snide comments about her needing a robe that covered more... And Draco had avoided looking at her altogether.  
  
After that, Ginny started dressing like she normally had, and had begun to plot more things she could do to get Draco to realize how she feels...  
  
The next thing she did was what she like to call -  
  
Way number 7: Try to make friends with his friends, thus insinuating yourself irrevocably into your prince's life...  
  
After 10 minutes of attempting to have a normal, nice, intelligent conversation with Pansy and Millicent, Ginny had quickly dropped that idea, especially when she realized rather quickly that Draco did not have any REAL friends...  
  
Ginny liked to think the next thing she had tried might have worked, if it hadn't have been for Harry's interference. It had been, after all, what had gotten Ginny and Draco spending a lot of time together in the first place. This one she liked to call:  
  
Way number 8: If your prince is angry at you and avoiding you, make sure you have to spend some quality time together, such as a place like detention.  
  
So Ginny had engineered another "accident" for the two of them to have...  
  
Ginny had saw him in the cafeteria, and headed over his way.  
  
"Oops!!! She had said loudly, as she practically threw her plate of food on Malfoy. Malfoy did not even say a word as he started to walk away. That was not in Ginny's plan, so she had improvised...  
  
"Draco Malfoy!" She had yelled, and she had pulled out her want. Draco had turned around, and saw her wand pointing at him, and reflexively pulled out his wand. But before either of them could say a word, Harry had saw Draco pulling out his wand and pointing it at Ginny, and had hexed Draco..... Right in front of Snape....  
  
So, after that fiasco, which Harry was still serving detention for, but which Malfoy had quickly recovered from, Ginny had given up on trying to get Draco in a fight so they could end up in detention together.  
  
That was when Ginny had come up with her ninth idea, which she liked to call:  
  
Way number 9: Send your prince multiple love letters by owl post, telling him of your true feelings...  
  
Unfortunately, Ginny had sent her letters using Errol, her older brother Percy's old owl, which had been passed on to her, and the owl was VERY old, and VERY senile... So, now Neville Longbottom is under the impression that she has a crush on him, and has spent the last 2 days since the letter delivery trying to let her down lightly, as he already has a girlfriend....  
  
So, Ginny now sat and contemplated what she would do next. But, she was fresh out of ideas... So, she decided to owl her mom for help (without telling her WHO she had a crush on of course...  
  
Two days later....  
  
It was late at night, when Ginny sat and read the letter her mom had sent.  
  
Dear Ginny,  
  
Hello, my dear. I am glad school is going well for you . Congratulations on your "A" in potions. I'm sorry to hear about your boy troubles. I wish I could tell you exactly what to do or say, and make it all alright, but I can't do that. I can only tell you to be yourself, and be honest. (And it sounds like you haven't been the Ginny I know, or completely honest, in the letter you wrote me explaining what you had tried so far.) The Ginny I know is direct, straight forward, and not scared of anything, especially when going after something she wants.... So, that is my advice to you, be honest with the boy.  
  
Love and Kisses, Mom  
  
P.S. I loved the way you numbered all the things you tried and titled it... Very creative!! I hope number 10, whatever it may be, will be the last one :)!  
  
P.P.S. Don't let Ron's overprotectiveness bother you!!! He's only looking out for his baby sister!!!  
  
Ginny thought for a moment, contemplating what her mom had said.  
  
"Mom's right!!!" She exclaimed to the empty room. "I haven't been myself at all!! I would chase him down, no matter where he is, and be completely honest about how I really feel!! I wouldn't sneak around like I have been!!" Ginny stated, throwing the letter on her bed as she stood up quickly.  
  
And before she headed out to find Draco, she titled way number 10 in her head...  
  
Way number 10 - Be honest, be real, be YOURSELF!!  
  
DRACO MALFOY'S BEDROOM - SLYTHERIN HOUSE  
  
Draco was trying to sleep, but thoughts kept intruding. And all of his thoughts centered around one theme... Ginny Weasley.  
  
When Ginny had asked him out, Draco had been overjoyed. At least until he realized it had all been her idea of retaliation. Which he honestly couldn't fault her for, because he would have done the exact same thing in light of what she believed he had done.  
  
But Ginny didn't give up. She kept trying to convince him that she liked him, which Draco knew could not be true. She had sent him gifts and followed him around trying to get him alone... Each time she did something like this, he couldn't stop the thrill that he felt for the split second he thought it was true, until, of course reality intruded...  
  
She was a Weasley, and he was a Malfoy, and no matter what he did, no matter what he said, or felt, or no matter how much he tried to change.... Ginny would never see him as more than a Malfoy.... And Draco knew that she deserved far better than him... But all of this could not stop him from yearning for her...  
  
So deep was he in thought, that Draco did not hear the whispered unlocking spell, the door quietly opened, and a quiet rustling of footsteps across the thick, dark green carpet.  
  
Ginny hugged Harry's invisibility cloak tightly around her small body, as she looked at the tall body laying on the bed in the darkness. She drew a deep breath and stepped closer to the bed.  
  
Draco closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep, as the feeling of being watched and the quiet indrawn breath reached his consciousness... And braced his body for attack as he felt the person move closer... And then he felt the feather soft feel of lips gently brushing his own, and a gentle hand moving his blonde hair away from his brow. He reached up, feeling for the cloak, and upon finding it, managed to pull down the hood...  
  
As Draco unmasked Ginny, she found herself staring into his silver eyes, made a stormy midnight gray by the darkness in the room... And she smiled at him lovingly.... "I really do love you, you know... It isn't a trick, or a joke, or revenge.... And I believe that you love me too...." She whispered to him in the still of the room as she looked earnestly into his eyes...  
  
As Draco looked back at the girl he loved, saying the words he was longing to hear, he answered in the only way he could. He put his arms around her and pulled her back down to him on the bed, and began to kiss her.... Her eyebrows, her cheeks, the freckles on her nose, made invisible in the darkness, before finally finding his way to her lips... This has to be a dream, he thought to himself.... But his dreams had never felt this good......  
  
Fate watched the kissing couple, and smiled, wiping at the tears that were trickling down her cheeks. Draco and Ginny had finally found each other.... But fate knew that nothing was ever this easy, as the couple still had a few more trials to go through before the happy ending.....  
  
Coming up: What happens after Prince Charming and Cinderella kiss? I think I hear the chimes ringing... one....two.....three....four....five....six.....seven....eight....nine....te n....eleven....twelve.......  
  
Find out what happens next in Chapter 15: The Attack of the Evil Stepsisters..... 


	15. The Attack of the Evil Stepsisters

I know I haven't written in a while. I have really lost the muse for this story. But, due to popular request, I am going to try to finish it. I really only have a couple more chapters left. One or two last trials to put the couple through before the happy ending. I think in the beginning I had planned on making this a three part story, with part 2 being a Ron and Hermione story and part 3 being a Harry Potter and some girl pairing, with Draco and Ginny playing secondary parts, but I don't think that will happen. But I will finish this story, now that I have found a little time (and inspiration) to finish it. And I will write an ending that will leave me slightly open to (maybe someday) picking up with the Ron and Hermione part 2 I had originally planned. I'm sorry to all of you who really loved this story. And I will finish. I promise! But as for other Harry Potter stories, I don't know. I have kind of moved on from writing for this genre, and have recently had a muse whisper to me about another genre… but maybe when the 6th book comes out, who knows! I don't know anything….

Anyway… Back to the story. We ended up with the kiss we all waited for, right? But, as everyone knows, fairy tale endings are NEVER than easy….

Welcome back to… after a very long wait… and due to popular demand….

The Least Likely Prince Charming

Chapter 15: The Attack of the Evil Stepsisters

Harry Potter was sleeping… or at least trying to. But trying to sleep in a room where Ron Weasley lay snoring in the next bed really was impossible. And since the latest detention incident, Snape had put a spell on his wand to make it "only usable for educational purposes and in emergencies where the owner's life is threatened". As Harry lay contemplating whether or not his getting enough sleep would be an "educational purpose" or if lack of sleep was "threatening his life", he heard the creak of the door opening. Being the target of so many of Voldemort's underlings, he knew to immediately grab his wand. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, holding his wand in readiness, an appropriate hex just waiting to be uttered. But the person did not come towards him, as he heard the footsteps heading toward his trunk, and the quiet squeak of the trunk opening. Harry opened his eyes and watched as a familiar person with bright red hair looked in his trunk.

As the girl looked in his trunk, Harry lay wondering what she needed so desperately that she would have to borrow it in the middle of the night without asking. And all conclusions he came up with were not good, given that he was just as overprotective as the Weasley brothers, and slightly jealous of her meeting a boyfriend secretly, if he were to admit the truth to himself. So, as she picked up his invisibility cloak and put it on, covering first her body, and finally making her bright red hair disappear, Harry made the decision to follow her. After she left his room, as whisper quiet as she had come in, Harry quickly got up. He went over to Ron and shook him gently. Ron, of course, just kept snoring away.

"Well, I tried the nice way" Harry whispered to himself, before grabbing his pillow and hitting Ron with it. Ron woke up sputtering.

"What was that for, Harry? You interrupted the nicest dream about me and Her… uh what was that about?" Ron asked whispering.

"Your sister just snuck in here and borrowed my invisibility cloak without asking." Harry whispered.

Ron sat, and Harry could see him thinking, and coming up to that same conclusion that Harry had.

"I'll kill whoever thinks that they are going to meet with MY sister in the middle of the night" Ron said, a little louder than he had intended.

"Quiet" whispered Harry, as he noticed that the other boys were stirring slightly. "We are going to follow her"

"But how" whispered Ron. "She's invisible."

"Remember my map, Ron?" Harry whispered back.

Ron got a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I do."

The two boys quietly put on shoes and dark robes. Then they quickly headed out of their room and out of Gryffindor, and into the hallway, being careful not the wake the Fat Lady.

After moving to a little corner in the hallway, Harry pulled the map out of his pocket, and Ron used his wand to softly light up the map.

As they looked at the map closely, the two boys watched as the name "Ginny Weasley" moved in one of the corridors.

"She's not going where I think she's going, is she?" Ron asked Harry with a perplexed look on his face.

"She can't be going there" Harry said. "Maybe we are wrong, she's just taking the long way to the kitchen or something."

As the two boys watched, the girl went into one of the doors to a tower, and of course, disappeared, as the map only shows the corridors and hallways of the castle, and not the student residences.

Harry and Ron looked at each other in shock. Then they headed toward Slytherin at a full run.

So deep was he in thought, that Draco did not hear the whispered unlocking spell, the door quietly opened, and a quiet rustling of footsteps across the thick, dark green carpet.

Ginny hugged Harry's invisibility cloak tightly around her small body, as she looked at the tall body laying on the bed in the darkness. She drew a deep breath and stepped closer to the bed.

Draco closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep, as the feeling of being watched and the quiet in drawn breath reached his consciousness... And braced his body for attack as he felt the person move closer... And then he felt the feather soft feel of lips gently brushing his own, and a gentle hand moving his blonde hair away from his brow. He reached up, feeling for the cloak, and upon finding it, managed to pull down the hood...

As Draco unmasked Ginny, she found herself staring into his silver eyes, made a stormy midnight gray by the darkness in the room... And she smiled at him lovingly... "I really do love you, you know... It isn't a trick, or a joke, or revenge... And I believe that you love me too..." She whispered to him in the still of the room as she looked earnestly into his eyes...

As Draco looked back at the girl he loved, saying the words he was longing to hear, he answered in the only way he could. He put his arms around her and pulled her back down to him on the bed, and began to kiss her... Her eyebrows, her cheeks, the freckles on her nose, made invisible in the darkness, before finally finding his way to her lips... This has to be a dream, he thought to himself... But his dreams had never felt this good.

As Draco and Ginny lay kissing, enjoying the feel of each other's lips, neither one heard the commotion outside in the Slytherin common room, where two Gryffindor boys had forced there way into the tower, claiming that a Slytherin must have cast a love spell on a Gryffindor girl.

They didn't hear the commotion until the door to the room was broken down by the outraged boys, and they, and a group of Slytherin's who were woken up by the commotion, stood staring in shock at Draco Malfoy kissing Ginny Weasley passionately. A kiss which, of course, was broken up as the couple turned to look at the interruption.

"Ginny, get away from that slimy git!" Ron shouted, his wand drawn, pointed in readiness at Draco.

"Ron, why don't you just go away." Ginny yelled right back at her over protective older brother.

Harry just watched with a hurt look in his eyes. Ginny, his Ginny, and his worst enemy (well, besides Voldemorte) were sitting there, on Draco's bed, with their hair mussed and slightly dazed expressions on their faces. Dazed, passionate looks on their faces. As he watched, Harry felt his last hopes of getting together with Ginny die. Ginny had never looked at him the way she is looking, and has looked, at Draco. How could he have been so blind to it?

Ron was just furious. The slimy get must have cast some kind of spell on his baby sister, to get her here. And he was going to pay. So without paying any attention to the fact that he and Harry were outnumbered by quite a few Slytherins, Ron pointed his wand at Draco and shouted a hex, the worst hex he could think of for a guy who wanted to mess with his sister – a hex designed to make it impossible for Draco to every mess with his, or anybody else's sister every again….

And Fate, of course, had to step in. She couldn't allow "that" to happen to the leading man in her little romance. So, of course, the hex went wrong. It backfired. Dumbledore would later claim that it was a result of a strange deflection caused by all of the Slytherin curses… but Fate knew better. It was because of her that Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley became Harriet Potter and Ronaldina Weasley for a couple of days… until the hex wore off.

And Ginny did not know whether to be angry or to laugh as she saw the results of the hex, as she stared at her brother and her almost brother who were now her, well, her sisters. Laughter won out, as she looked at Draco and said "Well, I always wanted sisters."

And Draco smiled back, and laughed too. Not a sly laugh, not a mean laugh, but, well, a real laugh. As the Slytherins watched, their leader fell, at the laughter of the petite girl. And they were not happy… not happy at all, because the one thing they hated worse than Harry Potter and muggles was change…..

And Fate watched, and knew her story was not quite over yet. But she smiled too, because she knew that the happily ever after was coming soon.

And next time, on The Least Likely Prince Charming:

How will Ginny and Draco deal with Harry and Ron? How will the Slytherins try to break them up? How much longer until fate gets her Happily Ever After?

Stay tuned for Chapter 16:


	16. Happily Ever After?

Disclaimer: Me do not own nothing, except for a computer with a grammar check that obviously does not work.

Last time, on LLPC, Fate had to intervene on yet another hex, Ginny got the sisters she always wanted, and Draco and Ginny together at last…

Chapter 16 Happily Ever After?

Dear Mom,

I cannot believe you would write me a letter like the last one you did (but at least you didn't send a howler, thank god for small favors.) I write to you to get your help in convincing my obviously DELUDED and INSANE sister that her new ------------ (insert your own word here because I absolutely REFUSE to call that slimy, deatheater loving git her boyfr --- see, I can't even write the word in this letter) is a jerk she shouldn't waste her time with (and you know that, because he is Draco MALFOY, for pete's sake. And what does my loving mother, who should be watching out for her daughter's welfare, mind you, say? I am calming down, mom. Taking deep breaths. Very, very deep breaths. How could you tell me to just let her make up her own mind? She is my baby sister, and she is obviously going completely insane and needs to be institutionalized, as she thinks she is in love with Draco MALFOY. Maybe you didn't get that part about who he is right. You know, heir to the MALFOY's, biggest deatheaters, He Who Must Not Be Named Supporters? Yes, he saved Ginny at that Quidditch game (but that had to be an accident or something, because there is no way he would have saved anyone on purpose) but MALFOY's are EVIL. And if you aren't going to have enough sense to forbid your only daughter to see the jerk, I will have to save Ginny somehow.

Your loving but completely bewildered youngest son,

Ron

Ron placed his pen down on his desk, after finishing his letter to his mom. He had thought he had the solution to the problem of Ginny dating Draco Malfoy. Unfortunately, his mom was not cooperating, and obviously not fully understanding what Draco Malfoy was like, so it was up to Ron (with Harry and Hermione's help, of course) to stop the relationship.

Meanwhile, Draco and Ginny were happy. They spent every spare minute together, talking and laughing and of course sneaking off places to kiss. In fact, this very minute, they were enjoying some alone time together sitting under a tree on a blanket.

Ginny was trying to read her potion's book, when Draco reached over and closed it.

Ginny rolled her eyes and looked at him. "And what was that for?" she asked. "You know I need to study for this final."

Draco reached over and put his arm around Ginny's shoulder. "Well, why should you waste your time studying when this is the first time in 3 days we are completely alone, without our "shadows"?" He then leaned in and kissed her lips softly.

After their lips parted, Ginny smiled and looked into his silver eyes. She didn't think she would ever get enough of just looking at him. But Ron's constant trailing was becoming a little bit of a problem. "I'm sorry about my brother. He's just a little overprotective." Ginny said.

Draco laughed softly under his breath. "Just a little?" he queried with a raised eyebrow. "I'm lucky that the death curse is illegal." Draco said. "Or you would be shopping for a new boyfriend." He joked.

Ginny laughed, then sighed, suddenly getting serious. "I don't know how to convince him that I am serious about this, about you, about US." Ginny said. "He's just so bloody stubborn. And it doesn't help that you spent the last few years turning him into your worst enemy." Ginny said, giving him a look.

"Well if I would have known how wonderful his little sister was, I would have been a little nicer, maybe." Draco said, giving her a smile.

Ginny just looked at Draco and raised her eyebrow at this statement. Draco pretty quickly got the point, and corrected himself. "I know, I know, I wouldn't have."

Ginny then smiled at Draco. "It is another thing we have in common, you know. We both share a healthy enjoyment of torturing Ronald Weasley." Draco was laughing at this when Ginny spotted Ron and Harry pretending to not be looking for her (which they really were), and grabbed Draco and kissed him passionately.

Ron was looking for Ginny when he spotted her and Draco sitting under a tree and talking. They looked so comfortable together, but he knew it had to be a spell or something. There was no way his sister could be in love with Draco Malfoy. All of the sudden, his baby sister grabbed Draco and began to give him a kiss hot enough to cook him. Ron's jaw dropped, as he began to search his robe pockets for his wand.

Harry was being a good friend and trying to support Ron in his overprotectiveness (and indulge in a little of his own overprotective urges) when he witnessed Ginny give Draco a very passionate kiss. A kiss that looked like it might never end. He then looked over at his friend and saw him searching his robes for his wand. Harry was very glad he had thought to confiscate Ron's wand before this little Ginny and Draco hunt, because Harry really didn't think he could stand another mixed up curse accident.

Ron couldn't find his wand. Where was it? He needed it to curse Draco, while his sister had Draco distracted with that kiss.

And Draco was distracted. Very, very distracted. Those soft lips, kissing him deeply, that soft skin and hair, that body pressing into his like it could never, ever get close enough…

What had started as a way to torture her overprotective brother was quickly turning into something more, as Ginny was starting to forget why she had started this kiss that she never wanted to stop…

But, of course, if had to stop, because a very angry Weasley male was charging at them, with Harry following behind, trying to talk some sense into him.

"Stop snogging my sister you slimy git!" Ron yelled as he came rushing towards them.

At this yelling, Draco and Ginny reluctantly broke the kiss.

Ginny turned and glared at Ron, who had now reached them, and was currently being held back by Harry. "What is your PROBLEM, Ron?" Ginny yelled right back.

Draco was finally starting to wake up from his passion induced stupor, and got a bored look on his face, as he gave Ron a condescending look. He started to open his mouth to say a typical Draco-like remark, but was quickly silenced by Ginny's glare. He instead shut his mouth and watched the proceedings.

"My PROBLEM is you dating this jerk! Can't you find a boyfriend who isn't a deatheater?" Ron yelled at Ginny, again trying to break away from Harry's restraining grip.

Harry, for once, was keeping his mouth shut. Over the last few days, he had come to realize that Malfoy was a jerk and could never be trusted, but it was Ginny's choice. And maybe Ginny saw something more in him than Harry or Ron or Hermione ever could. Harry was just trying to keep Ron from committing murder before he realized the same things that Harry had.

Ginny was currently glaring at Ron and contemplating if giving him a bat bogey curse would be worth her mother's wrath. Draco saw her begin to reach for he wand, and quickly grabbed it before she could. He wanted some kind of truce, and knew another hex (or strange hexing accident as seems to be the case lately) would not help anything.

Ginny was so busy glaring at Ron that she did not notice Draco taking her wand. She began to search her robes for it and could not find it. She instead yelled at him. "It's my life, Ron! Not yours!"

"But you're making a huge mistake, Ginny!" Ron yelled.

"But I'm not, Ron! And even if I am, which I am not, it's my life, and any mistakes I make are mine to make." Ginny said earnestly, not yelling anymore.

Ron stopped yelling too. "But you're going to be hurt." He said, glaring at Draco. "He'll hurt you. That's what he does." Ron said.

Draco glared back at Ron. "I would never hurt Ginny. I love her!" He said, without really thinking. Ginny got a huge grin on her face and looked at Draco in shock. Draco suddenly realized what he had said and began to blush.

"And I love you too." Ginny said as she embraced Draco.

Ron watched this tender moment, and did not know what to think. Because, for some reason, Draco had seemed sincere. And Ron did not know what to think. He didn't trust Draco, but Ginny did. He would hurt her, Ron knew this. But some of what Ginny said started to get through Ron's head. It was her choice, her decision, and her mistake to make.

Ginny and Draco broke part from their hug to look at Ron. Ron just looked at them for a moment before speaking. "When you hurt her, you're dead, Malfoy. As long as you keep her happy, I'll let you live." Ron threatened, before motioning to Harry and walking away. Neither Ron nor Harry looked back at the couple.

"What was that?" Draco asked Ginny.

"I think Ron just gave us his blessing." Ginny said, and smiled at the bewildered Draco.

"Well, I guess that means we get to live happily ever after, then." Draco said, leaning in closely for a kiss.

Ginny met him half way, her response to his statement lost in the meeting of their lips.

Fate watched and smiled. She loved it when a good plan came together.

Stay tuned for Chapter 17 of LLPC. Fate doesn't like any loose ends, and the last one needs to be tied up here. Let's see if you can figure out on your own what that last loose end is….


	17. Happily Ever After! Finally!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, ect. in this story. I only wish I did… 

Last time on LLPC

A romance blossomed, a cease fire was called, and fate is anxiously awaiting to tie up the last loose end…

And now, Chapter 17 of LLPC:

Happily Ever After!

Lucius Malfoy took the envelope from the owl. He looked at it – the handwriting on the outside was unfamiliar, very big and sloppy looking. Lucius took the gold letter opener on the desk in front of him, and used it to open the letter. It read:

Deer Mr. Malfoy,

Drako is dating Ginny Weezlee. Just thawt you wood want to no.

Vincent Crabbe

Lucius read it again, before taking a piece of paper and pen out of his desk drawer, and beginning to write.

Draco was leaving potions class when he received the owl. It was a very familiar owl, one he knew very, very well. It was the owl the came with the letters from his father. Letters he never wanted to read, letters filled with his not being good enough or smart enough or enough anything for his father. He opened this letter with a feeling of dread, and began to read.

Draco,

Crabbe's son sent me a letter, informing me of your latest girlfriend. Although I cannot say that I completely approve of the family she comes from, she is a full blooded witch, and therefore I give my approval of your dating her. However, you could do better than her, such as the Parkinson girl, but who you date is not my concern. I am more concerned about your grades. You cannot let that mudblooded Granger girl get higher marks than you, you are a Malfoy.

Draco read the letter again, surprised at what his father had said about Ginny. Draco honestly did not think that his father would have allowed him to date her, which is why Draco never told him anything about her. But, it was typical of his father. Ginny is a full blooded wizard, after all. He guessed that was enough for his father. His father's biggest fear was probably that he would get together with Hermione Granger or something. And he had a little laugh at that thought. She would drive him insane after 5 minutes. But enough of that. Now it was time to go tell an old "friend" that his little plot didn't work.

Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Millicent were in the library working on a group project in the library when Draco found them.

"Hi guys." Draco said, with a smirk. "Write any letters lately, Crabbe?" He said, and gave him a cold, icy look.

"Just thought your father needed to know who you were hanging out with now." Crabbe said, looking away from Draco's icy glare.

"Never thought you would go for the muggle-loving poor as a church mouse type." Millicent chimed in, and giggled at her own insult.

Pansy giggled too, and said "You could certainly do better than THAT…" giving him a look indicating she would be very interested in taking Ginny's place.

Goyle didn't say anything, as his mouth was full, with a chocolate frog he has stolen off of a first year earlier that day.

Draco looked at them all, and said "Well, it doesn't matter. My father doesn't care. He APPROVES of her."

They all looked at him in shock. It was Millicent who was finally able to close her mouth and speak.

"He approves of HER? She said. "Lucius Malfoy?" she stated.

"Yes, he does." Draco said. "Not that it matters, of course."

"Huh?" Goyle said through a mouthful of chocolate frog.

"It doesn't matter. I would date Ginny even if he didn't approve." Draco said. "And I don't care if you approve or not, either." He stated, given them all his icy glare.

"But… But… she's a Weasley." Pansy said.

"Well, she's my Weasley." Draco said. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll leave her and me alone." He threatened. "After all, you wouldn't want all of your dirty secrets spilled to the school, now would you?" he stated, again smirking.

The four Slytherin's at the table turned white. Because when you are in a family of Voldemort's followers, you have a lot of secrets you don't want spilled. And Draco knows quite of few of them.

The four Slytherin's looked at Draco nodded their agreement to leave Draco and Ginny alone. Not a word was said as Draco turned and left the table, knowing that, as he walked away, his Slytherin life would never be the same again. And he was fine with that. He would find new friends, maybe some new friends who would actually be a friend. The most important thing was, he had Ginny.

As fate watched, Draco walked away from his old path. A path that would have only led to pain and death and despair. Draco instead chose the fate she had wanted for him, a path with Ginny. And she smiled as she saw Draco find Ginny, on a bench one of the gardens. And as Draco sat down beside Ginny, and leaned in for a kiss, fate closed the book. She knew a happily ever after when she saw one.


	18. A Fairytale Ending

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd be rich. I'm really, really poor, ok… 

Last time on LLPC

Draco made his choice, Happily Ever After happened, finally

Chapter 18: Epilogue

A Fairytale Ending

Fate watched the woman, sitting at the desk in front of a dusty old shoebox. Time had been kind to the woman, but there were still the tell-tale signs of the passing of time, such as a slight thickening in the waist, lines around the mouth and eyes the spoke of years of laughter and smiling, and the lightening of hair that was once a deep, bright red into something more of a strawberry blond. But, despite all the changes the passing of time had brought, there was still a beauty and vibrance to the woman that told of a happy and well-lived life. The woman was now pulling the lid off the box, blowing the dust off as she opened the box.

She had sneaked off to the attic this day, needing to be alone with the memories. She didn't think anyone would miss her, as busy as everyone was today. She was looking for something, that important something old that every daughter needs from her mother on her wedding day. They were in the box --she knew it. She carefully opened the tissue paper that the item in the box where wrapped in, the paper crumbling with age a she touched it, hoping she would find what she wanted to find.

And there they were, as gleaming and shiny as the day her mother had given them to her on her wedding day. She pulled out the shoes, and looked at them in the light, remembering the story her mother had told her, oh so long ago. The story of a witch named Cinderella who had found her Prince Charming. And the woman remembered what her mother had said, that day she had given her the shoes, about how the shoes in the room at Hogwart's were just a replica, that the witch's family had kept the original shoes, passing them on from mother to daughter on her wedding day.

It was then that she saw it, under the crumbling tissue paper in the dusty old box. A long ago letter, written to her mother, on a long ago day at Hogwart's. It was in an envelope, the ratty edges of the opened envelope showing a piece of paper sticking out. She pulled it out of the box. Her mother must have placed it in the box, that long ago day, for the woman to find on her daughter's wedding day. She smiled sadly as a tear ran down her cheek, missing her mother, whom illness had taken away two years ago, the woman she admired more than anything in the world.

The woman pulled out the paper carefully, and began to read the letter, and suddenly began to laugh, as tears poured down her cheeks. This was the way her husband found her, sitting at the desk in the dusty old attic, with a pair of glass slippers in front of her and an old, yellowed paper in her hand.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, concerned.

"It's just this letter I found, with the shoes. Mom must have left it for me." she said.

He came to stand behind her, and kneeled beside her, putting his arm around her to offer his support.

"What letter is that?" he asked.

"A letter I wrote her, a long time ago." She said, and handed it to him.

"Ten Ways to Charm a Prince" Draco read out loud, and smiled.

Ginny buried her head in his shoulder, as Draco read the letter she had written, and started laughing.

All of the sudden, words appeared on the bottom of the letter, written in her mother's writing.

My dearest Ginny,

If you have found this, I guess it means it's your daughter's wedding day. I hope I am there to see it, but as we all know, no one can live forever. If I'm not there, I just wanted you to remember this letter you wrote so long ago. I hope your daughter has found her prince charming, just as you had (although I should hope finding her prince charming is a little less eventful than you finding yours.) And always remember, how to charm your prince!

Love,

Mum

Ginny moved back slightly, and looked at Draco. "Did I charm you?" she asked, with a small smile through her tears.

Draco smiled back at her. "Of course you did. I am your Prince Charming, after all."

"My least likely prince charming." Ginny said with a smile, as she hugged Draco. "And my fairytale ending" she said, before she kissed Draco.

And Fate watched her couple, remembering all the things she had to do to get them together. She wiped a tear away from her eye, as she turned away. She knew they would live happily ever after, on that day long ago that she had decided to put them together. And they would continue to live happily ever after. Because when has a fairytale not ended that way?

The End

A/N. Finally, we have reached the end of this story. Ginny and Draco live happily ever after. Next Story Will Be Hermione and Ron (I've got to do it, I've foreshadowed it enough in this story) which will be set after Hogwart's. Draco and Ginny will make appearances in the story, maybe a minor plot line, but the story will be about Hermione and Ron. It will be called, "I Never Wanted a Prince Charming".


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